


I’ve Got You

by Krispykritter



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bottom Jared, Danger, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, Humor, M/M, Police Procedural, Protective Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-03-23 05:26:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 207,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13780662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krispykritter/pseuds/Krispykritter
Summary: Jensen Ackles has been a cop for over a decade. He’s a sergeant now, with a little extra office work and scheduling to do. Street work isn’t normally his gig, as he has a whole team of detectives to take care of that. This call will be different and his close friend Jeff knows it. He meets Jared Padalecki, the innocent victim who was assaulted and robbed right in front of Jensen’s own gym. Damn, the young accounting expert just happens to be gorgeous, smart, funny and charming. The two men nervously work their way into a first date and fall into each other quickly...but things get dangerous and terrifying for Jared. Jensen won’t let anything happen to him.This story is going to be full of lovers falling for each other, angst, humor and fluff, with some suspense and danger mixed in there. This is now complete!





	1. Chapter One

I’ve Got You

 

CHAPTER ONE 

“Detective Sergeant Ackles,” Jensen quickly showed his ID to the young rookie officer blocking the entrance to the circle of onlookers. There were four uniforms total, an ambulance and a couple of gym employees with name tags, then about twelve curious look-e-loo’s that absolutely did not need to be there. At least the rookies were pushing them out, sending them back inside or out to their cars. 

‘Thank God they learned something,’ Jensen thought to himself, recognizing some of the officers from the crime scene classes he’d taught. Jensen quickly took in the entire scene, then his eyes landed on another detective headed toward him. “Jensen,” Jeff Morgan greeted him. “What’s up,” Jensen nodded toward the corner of an alcove, several feet away from the door. There were two paramedics leaning over someone, a long set of lean legs sticking out from between them. Jensen couldn’t see the object of their concern, but he was sure it was his soon to be victim... ‘if’ this turned out to be a case. 

“That’s why I called you. I know you’re mostly out of measly field work cases, being an uppity sergeant and all,” “Shut up and just tell me why I’m here,” Jensen interrupted. Morgan continued with a smirk, “This is your gym, Sparky. Some nasty little fucker picked this nice kid off while he was walking to his car. Tried to get his cell phone. He fought, guy pegged him and knocked him down. The punk took off with his bags. Poor kid’s only been coming here for a couple weeks. I let him call his credit companies and made him get checked out before I bugged him for an interview. Did get a description from him, though...he’s a solid witness. We don’t get those every day. Smart. This was a shit deal and I thought you’d wanna know about it.” 

Jensen listened to Jeff, while glancing to the corner. He still couldn’t see the victim. Guilt crept in, along with his rising level of concern. He closed his eyes and sighed at the thought of what ‘could’ have happened. These victims needed to let valuables go...he knew it was hard, but in an attack like this, they always advised victims to let the material items go and save themselves from being hurt or killed. “How bad is he?” Jensen nodded toward the person again. 

Jeff looked at the same corner, “He was pelted pretty good. He’s hurt, but he won’t go in the ambulance so they’re doing their best to treat what they can and have him sign a refusal. Bruises, scrapes and a swollen knee. His face’ll be a mess in a few hours. He already called his boss and I guess they’re sending some locksmith to help him with his car and bringing him a new phone.” 

Jensen did a double take, “Nice boss,” he marvelled. Jeff laughed, “That’s what I thought. He’s important to them, I guess.” Both men watched the paramedics for a few seconds. Jensen sighed and rubbed his face, “Did anybody else see it?” Jeffery perked up, “Yep, one desk employee inside and I’ve got a manager enroute to pull the video from ‘that’.” Jeffrey pointed up and Jensen saw the camera he was talking about. He nodded, “Good.” 

Jeff added, “I’ll take the official statement from the pretty girl inside, and you can have a turn with the victim. He’ll probably be more comfortable with that pretty face of yours.” Jensen rolled his eyes and was about to walk away when Morgan stopped him with a hand on his arm, “He’s pretty too, Ackles...you can thank me later.” Jensen sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, while Morgan walked off snickering. 

Jeffrey Morgan was always trying to set Jensen up. He didn’t understand the gay thing, but he tried like hell to support it. Sometimes, like now, he pushed a little ‘too’ much support. He guessed Jeff thought he was helping, but he really would prefer for the man to back off. ‘Jesus, it’s a victim, for chrissakes.’ Getting involved with victims or witnesses wasn’t on Jensen’s bucket list. He wasn’t about to ask some poor person out who had just been attacked and needed a professional presence.

Jensen had been coming to this gym for several years now and Jeff Morgan knew it. He also knew Jensen’s unit had been getting complaints of smashed car windows and valuables taken from vehicles and lockers. Jensen had already put a couple guys here undercover to try and catch the culprit. The gym had taken his advice and installed camera’s too. 

They really didn’t have the resources to focus on petty thefts, so Jensen had to remove his people a few weeks ago when no incidents had occurred. This, however, had just escalated to a felony assault. Someone had been hurt and unfortunately that’s what it took sometimes for the bean counters to give him the people he needed. Jensen didn’t like people getting hurt, especially at his own gym where he frequented. He saw many of the same people every day, hard working people, parents with kids in the care center, people rushing to get their hour of fitness in before they had to be somewhere else. People he vowed to keep safe when he took his oath. 

He headed over to the paramedics, who were just zipping up their bags and cleaning up. They stood up and turned around, Jensen noticing the unhappy looks of disapproval right away. “Fellas,” Jensen greeted them with a suspicious tone. His raised eyebrow told them he was waiting for a quick rundown on the patient. 

One medic took the bags to the car, while the other one Jensen recognized from other crime scenes stayed. Jensen peeked around him to get a glance at the person sitting on the ground, leaning against the dark glass window. The so called ‘kid’, as Morgan called him, still had his phone and earpbuds in one hand. He was looking the other way and Jensen could only see brown shoulder length hair, in kind of disarray, covering part of his face. 

His other hand was holding something against his cheek and Jensen assumed it was a cold pack. A quick assessment over the kid’s body showed some cuts and abrasions on his forearms and left knee, but not much else except a cold pack on the knee, held there by an ace bandage. The medics had cleaned and applied some ointments to the various areas. Jensen could see the wrappers laying on the ground. 

“He let us do vitals, clean up his cuts and we gave him some cold packs,” the medic reported, “but I don’t like the fact that he hit his head on the asphalt, and I don’t like that knee. He’s a little dehydrated. Won’t accept fluids from us. He says his employer told him to wait so he won’t go to the ER for scans. Seems determined not to go with us.” 

The medic shrugged his shoulder, “I had him sign a partial refusal for transport and we’re outta here.” Jensen nodded, knowing they had no power once a victim signed that form. He turned back to his victim and approached him while the ambulance crew finished packing up and jumped in to drive away. Jensen had been doing this kind of thing too much lately. The criminals never stopped. Nothing ever slowed down and there never seemed to be any closure to a day’s work. One victim after another and one more asshole getting away with hurting someone and stealing his shit. 

Jensen knelt down into a squat and tried for a smooth and comforting opening, “Hello.” Victims could be a scared and traumatized bunch of unpredictable people and you never knew what you were gonna get. The last thing Jensen wanted to do was throw this one into some kind of traumatic flashback. 

Jensen had to hold himself in check when the younger man turned his head. ‘Jesus, he’s fucking beautiful...Morgan, you asshole,’ his mind swam for a few seconds before he zeroed in on the young man’s wounded face. The kid didn’t say anything, just looked at Jensen with open curiosity. He eyed the badge hanging from a chain around Jensen’s neck, and the gun resting on Jensen’s hip inside his flannel cover shirt, then he met Jensen’s eyes. 

The young man didn’t look afraid of him. That was a plus. “I’m Detective Sergeant Ackles, but please call me Jensen, okay? How are you feeling?” “I’m okay,” the young man responded with a soft smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He was starting to hurt...everywhere, but he wasn’t going to whine. Jensen noticed the stress and dried out eyes right away. The kid was definitely a little dehydrated. 

“I need to ask you some questions and get your statement, but I’d like to help you inside where it’s more comfortable. Would that be okay?” The kid was sitting on concrete, and it was freezing out here. Jensen didn’t know why the damn paramedics hadn’t given him a blanket. The victim nodded and started to lift himself to stand. Jensen quickly took his elbows and tried to help him without being too overbearing. 

“Sore?” Jensen asked, when his victim stood hunched like a much older man. “Yeah,” the younger man responded softly. Jensen noticed his outfit more closely. The kid had on loose long running shorts and two long baggie t-shirts. It was the middle of January. “Do you have a jacket?” He could feel this guy shivering. “It’s in the car,” his victim replied forlornly, “I can get it when the locksmith gets here.” 

Jensen hurriedly took off his own long sleeve thick flannel and wrapped it around the kid’s shoulders. “Here,” he held it together in front and put the victim’s hand with the phone over it to hold it closed. The kid shaking wasn’t doing it for Jensen’s protective instincts. “Thank you,” the younger man smiled gratefully, looking right into Jensen’s eyes. God, the shirt was so warm and it felt divine. 

Jensen smiled at him, though he felt like maybe he should be the one thanking this young man for giving him a closer look at his eyes. Christ, Jensen couldn’t decide what color they were without a scientific chart, but damn they were beautiful. “You’re welcome. It’s not much but it’ll help keep you warmer,” he managed to say. He kept a hold on the victim’s arm while they walked through the front door. Jensen went slow, as his young victim was barely able to put weight on his injured knee. 

The kid had to be at least three to four inches taller than Jensen, but in his slightly hunched over state, it was hard to be exact. He could feel the solid muscle in the kid’s arm, so he knew the guy must be in pretty solid shape. Jensen asked for a private area where they could talk and was directed to a nearby alcove with a half wall around it. The makeshift office had a desk and a double chair the size of a loveseat. ‘Perfect,’ Jensen thought, as he helped his charge lower himself into the soft cushioned vinyl.  
He looked around and realized this was the office where they’d signed him up for his own membership and tried to talk him into a year’s supply of tanning sessions he didn’t want. Christ, like he needed his office graffiti’d with ‘Baywatch’ posters, or worse. Jensen grabbed a water bottle from the small cooler on the desk with the see through door. There were sample drinks in there for prospective clients. He remembered getting a purple Powerade when he signed up. 

Jensen dragged another chair around the desk and placed it in front of his victim. He sat down and unscrewed the water bottle, waiting for his victim to settle. “Better?” Jensen asked, after his victim settled into the chair. He was leaning on the back cushion, definitely looking more comfortable. ‘At least it’s warmer in here,’ Jensen thought. The younger man nodded, “Yes,” then smiled gratefully, “thank you.” 

Jensen held the water out to him, “Will you drink some of this for me?” The kid looked at the water like he was going to refuse it, at first, but then he took it and downed a few sips. Jensen decided his victim must have realized he’d been thirsty because he wound up drinking half the bottle before he handed it back. Jensen smiled, “Good,” then set the bottle behind him on the desk. “So,” Jensen began, “first and foremost, what’s your name?” 

The younger man looked at him, in surprise, actually just realizing he hadn’t given it, “Jared Padalecki,” he answered. Jensen raised an eyebrow and grinned, “Forgive me if you have to spell that for me later.” Jared smiled at him. He decided that as far as cops go, Jensen was a really nice one. ‘And goddamn easy on the eyes too,’ Jared’s mind wandered to. 

Jensen was transfixed at the little dimple in Jared’s cheek when he grinned. ‘Jesus,’ he mentally bitched, but forced himself to stay professional. “Thank you for speaking with me. I know this hasn’t been a great afternoon for you, so far,” Jensen started, “and the other detective told me your employer was on the way, but if you can just bare with my questions, you’ll be free to go.” Jared nodded, “Okay,” seemingly unbothered in the least about having to help. 

Jensen gently reminded Jared to put the cold pack in his left hand back on the injured cheek, first, then he started questioning, “So, can you start with when you got here today, when you first came into the gym, and tell me what happened from there?” Jared seemed to think for a second, then began to recite his last couple hours. He arrived at twelve thirty to get a workout in before he had to prepare for an important evening meeting at work. 

Jensen forced his mind to focus. This kid’s beautiful mouth and the way he spoke were a constant distraction. He mentally bitched at himself for allowing his thoughts to wander. Jared said he finished his run and some weight machines, he showered and then got dressed in a second set of workout clothes so he could go back to his office and study comfortably before having to put a suit on for his meeting. 

Jensen interrupted with, “And what time was it at that point?” Jared thought for a few seconds, “I looked at my phone before I got in the shower and it was a quarter to two.” Jensen nodded, so Jared continued, “There was a man in the locker room that seemed suspicious, but I was in a hurry and not paying much attention to him, at first. I had to blow dry this mop of mine and I started to notice him in the mirror.” 

Jensen interrupted, trying not to grin at Jared’s description of his hair being a ‘mop’. “What do you mean by suspicious...what was he doing?” Jensen noticed how Jared’s hair caught the light and also had different colors in it, just like his eyes. There were soft gold and red highlights, probably from the sun, shining in between the browns. Jensen wondered what running his hands through it would feel like, but he suppressed that runaway thought quickly, as Jared answered him, “He was walking down a row of lockers, trying the locks like he was looking for an open one. I thought it was suspicious so I asked him what he was doing and he told me he couldn’t remember which locker was his so he was trying them all.” 

Jared shrugged a shoulder, “Seemed plausible,” then he looked at Jensen with doubt, “I guess.” ‘Yes, it could happen,’ Jensen was thinking, as he studied Jared with worry, ‘but usually you don’t try every single locker, just the ones closest to where you thought you put your stuff.’ He didn’t want to insult this young man, of course, so he kept his thoughts to himself, but thank god Jared had dropped the subject or the guy might have felt cornered and come out with a knife or gun. 

Jensen realized a long time ago that people who weren’t in his line of work didn’t see things the same way he did and wouldn’t jump to a conclusion that someone was malicious before they believed a story like that one. Jared described the man in full detail, which pleasantly surprised Jensen. People didn’t usually memorize that much detail when they were in the middle of doing something else. 

“That’s an impressive description. Would you recognize him if you saw him again?” Jared answered, “Hell yeah..he’s the same little asshole that punched me and took my stuff out front.” Jensen hesitated. This is the first he realized they were now looking for a premeditated robbery. The prick was casing the place inside, then picked Jared to wait outside for and attacked him.

Jensen took his cell from his pocket and punched in Jeff’s number, while he kept an eye on Jared. The young man’s cheek was darkening and it wasn’t gonna be pretty when he woke up tomorrow. ‘Poor kid,’ Jensen thought. “Morgan,” his friend answered. “Yeah, you said you got a description, did you put it out yet?” Jensen wanted to make sure everyone was looking for this guy. 

“Course I did, knucklehead...baggy clothes, jeans, black hair, red backwards cap, right? Probably a large navy duffle in tow and a computer backpack, right?” Jensen heard the irritation in his friend’s voice that he could possibly be questioning his haste in getting a want out for their little robbery suspect. “Yes, that’s right, but this isn’t just a snatched petty in a parking lot anymore, now it’s a two eleven with premeditated conspiracy, assault with bodily injuries and I wanna know how he got in the locker room.” 

Morgan responded with a matching serious tone, “I’m on it,” then hung up. Jensen had just told Morgan they had a few extra felonies and that meant there was more they could do. Jensen knew he didn’t have to even listen to the ear piece hanging on the lapel of his collar. Jeff would be reissuing the want and escalating it to a higher priority within seconds. He would also be drilling the front desk to see how the robber got in. That was the trust they had between them. 

Jensen stood and leaned closer to Jared, so he could gently pull the kid’s face more to the side. He pushed the hair to the side and gently lifted Jared’s hand with the cold pack in it. Jensen inspected the damage to Jared’s face up close, noting the darkening bruise manifesting itself on the high cheek bone. ‘Damn, it’s really coming in,’ he thought to himself...Jared’s beautiful face didn’t look right with such damage on it. 

He placed his hand over Jared’s again and held it for a second, “Just keep it cold a bit longer, okay?” When Jared nodded, Jensen sat back down. Every time Jensen moved, Jared had a few seconds to study him. The brown leather shoulder strap led down to the detective’s waist, where his gun sat. He had a dark blue t-shirt on, and faded blue jeans. 

Jared guessed when you got to this point in your police career, you probably got to wear whatever the hell comfortable clothes you wanted. No uniforms and suits. He figured Jensen would look hot in anything, though. The man had a gorgeous physique. Jensen introduced himself as a sergeant, so Jared guessed he was kind of in charge and probably had years of experience. 

He almost got lost in the deep green eyes every time they stared at him. Jesus, did fate have to bring him such a perfect looking sex on a stick officer? Fuck, it was hard to concentrate. Jared almost missed the pretty detective’s question, “So, Mr. Padalecki, can we continue with what happened after the locker room?” Jared said, “Sure, please just call me Jared, though.” 

Jensen smiled and when his beautiful green eyes crinkled in the corners, it was very distracting, “Jared, it is...so the dickwad in the locker room...did he leave the locker room first, or did you leave first?” Jared smirked at Jensen’s nickname for his attacker, feeling like the beautiful hazel green eyes were looking right through him. He had a feeling Jensen noticed everything. He did this for a living. He probably could read more about a person than they even knew about themselves. 

The younger man cleared his throat, “I left first, but I went back after I realized I’d left my towel on the shower hook.” When Jensen looked confused, Jared quickly explained, “I bring my own.” “Ah,” Jensen nodded in understanding. He also brought his own towel, not completely comfortable using the gym’s provided ones. Jared continued, “So, I went out after that and headed for the car. “ 

Jensen stopped him, “Okay, you went out which way?” Jared answered, “Through the front desk gate,” not knowing why that was important. Jensen asked further, “So, dickwad wasn’t in the locker room when you went back for your towel?” “No,” Jared answered. Jensen nodded, and reiterated, “So, you got the towel, then came back to the front exit and did you go through the spin wheel where you have to use your card?” Jared nodded, “Yes.” 

Jensen knew the kid didn’t know why this was important but for Jensen this was all about times. He was confirming times for his report, also making a mental note to get Jared’s exit time from that gate. It’s all part of building a convincing case for a prosecution. People didn’t realize it wasn’t just a matter of nabbing a bad guy, it was a matter of dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ‘t’ just to get perpetrators found guilty. 

Jensen continued further, “So, when you went out the door, how were you carrying your stuff? Where was your duffle or pack?” Jared thought about it for a few seconds, “My gym bag was on my right shoulder and I had a backpack with my laptop in it over that. I carried both of them over my right shoulder.” Jensen mentally followed along, picturing it, “Okay, so what was in your left hand, anything?” 

Jared thought for a second, “My phone. I was answering a call and my ear piece was still connected to my left ear.” Jensen added, “So you were looking down, while walking to the car, am I right?” Jared opened his mouth, but then paused, thinking he must look really stupid to do that in this day and age after all the hype about how you make yourself a victim by not paying attention. “Yeah,” he answered, nodding his head and looking down. Now, he wondered if this cop thought he was a dumb ass. 

Jared suddenly looked a bit defeated to Jensen, or ashamed and Jensen wasn’t about to let that stand. “Hey,” Jensen put his finger under the young man’s chin and pushed it up, “Hey,” he repeated, looking directly into Jared’s eyes, “‘you’ are not the bad guy here just because you weren’t paying attention, okay? I’m just trying to picture the scene and make sure I have the details. HE is the bad guy and I want you to remember that.” 

Jared felt Jensen’s reassurance wash through him. He half smiled at the detective and nodded, “Kay,” feeling a little less hard on himself. Jensen rested his elbows on his knees and interlocked his fingers, completely focused on his victim, trying to keep him feeling safe. Relaying attacks like this wasn’t easy for victims and he knew Jared probably didn’t realize it was going to rattle him, “I need you to tell me what happened in the parking lot. Don’t leave anything out, but take your time, okay? If it gets uncomfortable, we’ll take a break.” 

Jared didn’t think it was necessary for this nice detective to baby him, so much. He was certainly capable of telling him what happened without being a ridiculous basket case. This was just a thief, anyway, it wasn’t like a huge crime where he got beat up or shot or anything. “I was walking and talking on the phone. I just pushed the end button and he pushed me from this side.” Jared indicated his left shoulder. “I mean I didn’t see him coming and he pushed me hard.” 

“I fell sideways to my right, but I didn’t fall all the way and was able to catch myself. It happened so fast, I thought it was a car that hit me, at first.” Jensen could see this was finally hitting Jared. His nerves were revealing themselves with little pauses in between sentences and very subtle tremors in his lower lip and hands. Victims didn’t realize they were doing this, sometimes, but someone with Jensen’s experience could detect it easily. 

“Take your time, Jared,” Jensen soothed, as the younger man continued, “I caught my balance and then he pushed me again. This time he pushed me backward, with his hands on my chest. I fell back on the asphalt, landed on my back and that’s when I realized it was a person. I saw the red hat, and realized it was the guy...the dickwad...from the locker room.” Jensen exchanged a slight smirk with Jared at the younger man’s use of his word. 

Jared continued, “He pulled my phone out of my hand and the ear piece popped out of my ear. I was stunned for just a second, then I kicked him in his leg, or knee, or whatever, and he dropped the phone and fell back. I got up on my knees and scrambled to grab my phone off the ground. My packs fell off my shoulder and hit the ground, but they were still attached to me by the straps. Right when I grabbed the phone, he punched me in my face.” 

Jensen listened. HIs eyes were compassionate and understanding but his thoughts were filled with hate at innocent people being mowed down by assholes. Every time he caught one criminal, there were several hundred more in other towns and neighborhoods just preying on someone else. It was a fucking endless fight, that was for damn sure. He kept silent and let Jared continue this at his own speed, “It startled me for a second when he punched me.” 

“I realized he was grabbing my packs, but the straps were still over my shoulder, so it gave me some leverage. I pulled back but I was kind of off balance and when he pulled forward too hard, I fell on my knees. He dragged me a little bit. That hurt like a bitch, but I still didn’t let go completely. I guess I pissed him off cuz he punched me again. That one hurt and I fell back holding my face. I felt the straps being pulled until they finally tore and he took off with my bags.” 

Jared paused, “I kinda laid there for a minute. Then I heard people running and thought maybe he was coming back, at first. It was just some people from the gym. Then I felt the phone in my hand and thought, ‘well shit, at least he didn’t get everything.’” Jared snickered mockingly, “at least I don’t have to change my iTunes account.” 

Jared sighed, then shrugged a shoulder and waited for Jensen to say something. His eyes darted, a little unsure of the detective’s thoughts. Was he a loser that didn’t fight hard enough? Was he stupid to not even see the guy coming? Was this nice cop going to tell him there was nothing they could do?

Jensen couldn’t believe this nice young man was actually looking unsure about himself. Jared was handling this whole thing phenomenally well, “Jared, I am so damned sorry this happened to you. I promise you I’m gonna make sure we do everything we can to catch this asshole, alright? It isn’t always quick because these criminals move around and hit on different places, but we’ll catch him...hopefully, before he hurts anyone else.” 

Jared nodded, more relaxed now that he’d gotten his story out. “And as for the gym,” Jensen continued, “we’ll put somebody here 24/7 that’ll be able to spot trouble. We tried that a few weeks ago, but we didn’t have the manpower to keep it going. This time, we’ll keep an officer here who can protect people.” Jensen waited for a few seconds while Jared absorbed that. The gorgeous kid looked hopeful, “Do you mean like an undercover person? Will it be you?” 

Jensen grinned, “Yes, a partial undercover...the gym will know, but not the potential bad guys. And no, it won’t be me, though,” Jensen explained, “too many people in here have seen me as a cop. I’ve been coming here a lot of years, so it just wouldn’t be effective.” Jared looked slightly disappointed, but nodded...or maybe Jensen was imagining that disappointment. 

Jared suddenly rushed to assure Jensen, “Well, I wouldn’t give you away.” Jensen smirked, “I appreciate that, but other bad guys know me too. If there are any ‘other’ thieves coming in here every day, and not just the scumbag who attacked ‘you’, then we won’t catch anybody like that.” There’s that disappointment again and no, Jensen wasn’t imagining it. 

Jared shrugged his shoulder, “Well, that’s still cool, if you can do that...so nobody else loses their stuff.” Jensen nodded, “Yes...it’ll be a lot safer overall, anyway.” Jensen was going to ask a few more questions, but Jared cut him off at the pass, his curiosity about the detective taking over, “So, you said you work out here?” 

Jensen answered, pleasantly surprised, “Yes, quite a bit, actually. Usually weekends for long sessions and then a quick run every morning. Once in awhile I have lazy days where I skip it. It’s a good place, clean. Don’t let this stop you from coming here. I like the management and even if I weren’t able to put an officer here, I’m sure they would hire someone. They do care about their members. I’ve been here quite a few years.” 

Jensen looked closer at Jared, “I gotta say, though, I’ve never seen ‘you’ here before...when did you start?” Jared dropped the ice pack from his cheek, finally getting tired of holding it. He almost forgot why they were even here, realizing how comfortable he was becoming around this detective, “I just started a couple weeks ago. I’m from San Antonio, but I’ve lived in New York for work reasons a long time. I moved here three months ago and it took me this long to look around and find something close to my work.” 

Jensen nodded in understanding, then smiled, “A fellow Texan. Sweet, what times do you come in?” Jared was happy to be talking about something else, “Every chance I can, but so far it’s been sporadic. I was here last weekend, used the weights and ran, but weekdays it just depends on my schedule. My work hours aren’t routine so it’s hard to plan. I used to run all the time and I miss it.” 

Jared sighed, “I had three hours to myself today and it was a perfect time to do everything I wanted.” Jensen thought about that...maybe when this was over, he’d at least be able to see Jared around...he went over in his mind how he really wouldn’t mind that one bit. “Well, hopefully I’ll see you here...give you some ‘extra’ protection when you walk to the car.” ‘Jesus, did I just fucking say that?’

Jared’s shy dimpled smile after Jensen’s comment did something funny to Jensen’s insides. He realized he really would love to get to know this kid on a personal level, but he wasn’t sure if that interest would be reciprocated...nor was he in a position to ask right now. Jensen needed to stick to his job, for chrissakes, and control his thoughts. 

Unfortunately, Jeffrey’s voice could be heard near the front doors talking to someone. Jensen figured that Jared’s employer had shown up, or it was the locksmith. He could see the kid getting distracted by the voices, so Jensen tried to redirect his focus, “Can you remember when you fell...did you hit your head when you hit the blacktop? Did you feel dizzy or lose consciousness?” 

Jensen waited for Jared to think for a few seconds before answering, “No...I smacked it the second time I fell but no, I stayed awake. ‘Very’ awake...enough to see the little prick run off with my bags.” Jared sighed as his eyes darted toward the front of the gym, “My boss is going to be pissed. They bought that souped up laptop and all the accessories I wanted. There’s a load of shit in there I needed for today’s meeting.” 

Jensen looked doubtful, “A laptop can be replaced, you can’t. This could have been much worse, Jared, if he pulled out a knife and stabbed you, or had a gun. Your boss’ll be lucky that you’re okay...banged up, anyway, but okay. Material items aren’t the priority here and I’m thinkin’ if the guy’s human, he’ll see that.” Jensen waited for Jared to agree with him, which he didn’t. He studied the younger man for a moment. 

Just then, Jeff came over to the half wall, “Locksmith’s here and working on the car...so’s the employer.” Jensen nodded, “Okay, we’re almost done,” then turned back to his victim, who was now looking less relaxed. “You okay?” Jensen watched his nervousness increase. The younger man had straightened up his position and was searching the opening of the half wall like he was worried about whoever was about to come through it next. 

“Yeah...I’m okay,” Jared smiled at him but it didn’t match the anxiousness Jensen saw in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Jensen wasn’t convinced. Jared quickly explained further, “I’m supposed to be in a meeting with them and I’ve lost everything. I don’t think they’re going to be happy about it.” Jensen’s inner sixth sense didn’t like a boss who made his employees this nervous. Hadn’t the kid heard anything he just said? Jared shouldn’t be worried about this right now. 

“Jared, you’ve been through a violent traumatic experience. You’ve got some injuries that I’m still thinking need at least an x-ray. I’m sure a boss would understand that none of this was your fault...and I’m definitely sure you should be taking the rest of the day off.” Jared nodded at Jensen, but it was a feigned acceptance, not really the agreement Jensen would prefer. The kid was still looking worriedly between him and the half wall. 

Jensen decided he would let it go for now. Jared could be just a conscientious worker and this wasn’t his boss’s pressure, at all, and Jensen was making it worse by stalling him. “Do you have some medical avenues from your job so if you have problems with that knee or you feel dizzy later on, you can go to the ER?” 

Jared quickly nodded, “Yes...they keep company doctors on staff. If we get sick, then they call them in.” Jensen looked disbelieving, “Really? Who the hell are these people, millionaire’s?” Jared grinned at Jensen’s look, his first real smile Jensen was treated to in the last several minutes. “Actually yes,” Jared explained, “They’re real estate guru’s with ties and investments all over the world.” 

“Oh,” Jensen raised an eyebrow. He suddenly wondered if he was a bit out of his league showing a spark of personal interest in this young man. It wasn’t like him to be insecure, but if Jared was a part of some materialistic rich man’s crowd, maybe he wouldn’t be interested in, “It’s not ‘my’ fortune,” Jared interrupted Jensen’s thoughts.

“I’m just their accountant. One of ‘em, anyway. I do figures for their contracts...budgets for projects and some bookkeeping and taxes...I haven’t done investments yet, but they want to use me for that, too. It’s just numbers. I assure you they pay me well, but I’m not a millionaire.” “Oh,” Jensen answered, happily learning more about this young man, “Still that’s...gotta be quite demanding if they have all that money going back and forth. I’m sure you’re not ‘just’ an accountant.” 

Jared smiled shyly and shrugged a shoulder, “It’s a lot to learn.” So Jared was a numbers guy. Smart and hired by hard ass very picky multi-millionaires. ‘He must be top of his class smart,’ Jensen thought...and his bosses made him nervous. Jeffrey came over the half wall again, “CSI’s here.” Jensen nodded at his friend and waved a hand at him, indicating he could send the investigators in. 

He turned back to Jared, “The officers coming in are gonna take a few pictures of your injuries, okay? It’s something we need for the report. That’s all they’re gonna do and then I’ll need to get all your contact info and we’ll be finished.” “Okay,” Jared tried to feign indifference, but he secretly prayed that he wasn’t pissing his boss off by making him wait in the front lobby. 

His employers did ‘not’ like to wait, Jared had learned, and they did ‘not’ like being forced to deal with every day common problems. They paid people to do everything for them. One of them coming here in person wasn’t quite in character, but at least Jared knew they could replace his phone faster than any walk in store could. They could also get a brand new spare set of keys made for any lock within minutes. Their money did have some power.

Jared thought they seemed pleased with his work, so far, but he hated being any kind of a problem. He’d only been there a few months. He was still getting to know them and he didn’t want to push the envelope. They were cordial, but something about their underlying tones and intimidating mannerisms made Jared reluctant to ever piss them off. 

Jensen took a mini ipad out of his pocket and opened it up while the CSI officers took pictures of Jared’s bruised face, knee and the abrasions on his elbows. He was a little shy about the process, but it wasn’t any worse than getting dental X-rays, really. The officers left after that, leaving Jared alone with Jensen again. The detective touched the screen a few times with the stylus, then sat down next to Jared on the double chair. 

Jensen hadn’t failed to notice Jared’s continued apprehension about his boss being here. It nagged at Jensen’s protective instincts, but he thought it wouldn’t help to keep bringing it up. Right now, he wanted to relax Jared as much as he could. Jensen typed Jared’s name into the screen, then turned the device to show it to him, “Be honest now, did I completely destroy your last name?” 

Jared looked closer at the iPad, as he giggled very slightly, “No, it’s right.” Jensen grinned at the kid’s giggle. It was cute. When Jared looked up at him, he reminded himself to knock it off. “Good,” Jensen grinned, “how about a middle name?” Jared answered quickly, “Tristan.” Jensen filled that in, trying not to self combust at being this close to those beautiful eyes. “Tristan,” he repeated. 

Jensen spent the next few minutes filling in Jared’s birthdate, driver’s license, address and phone number. After having a mental argument that Jared couldn’t possibly be thirty three, since he looked only twenty five, Jensen moved on to the work information portion. “Barron and Murray, Incorporated,” Jared announced.

‘Holy shit,’ Jensen thought, now understanding the young man’s nervousness. His fellow major crimes task force teams had been trying to pin drugs and trafficking on that duo for a few years. They had never been able to get a man on the inside, nor pin anything on them. Jensen knew there had been a couple of employees that disappeared too, and they’d never been found. ‘Jesus,’ he never would have guessed this gorgeous accountant with the innocent puppy eyes would be working for that kind of outfit. 

“So how long have you worked for them?” Jensen tried to seem casual, as he entered Jared’s employer into the mini ipad. “Only a few months,” Jared answered innocently. He thought he sensed a slight change in the detective’s demeanor, but wasn’t sure if he was just imagining it. “Mmm,” Jensen tried to sound casual, “they’re a well known business around here.” He was going for mild curiosity and hoping Jared was buying it. 

Jared wasn’t sure why, but he suddenly felt the need to explain further, “I’m still getting to know them. They set up a townhouse for me to buy and paid for movers,” he shrugged a shoulder, “it was a sweet deal, and a way to get back to Texas, but it’s different being solely dedicated to one entity, for a change.” 

Jensen still tried to look only mildly curious, “So what made you apply to work for them?” Jared hesitated, but couldn’t pinpoint why he detected a slight ‘off’ tone to Jensen’s questioning. He inwardly prayed his new employers hadn’t been in some kind of trouble before.

“Well, actually I didn’t apply...they found ‘me’.” When Jensen raised an eyebrow, Jared explained further, “I worked for Brad and Dunstreet in New York. I graduated here, but my college professors sort of placed me in New York ten years ago with a good job. Murray and an associate came in and asked my manager if they could talk to me. I thought I was in trouble, but it turned out to be just the opposite. Apparently, I’d questioned some of the company investments of theirs and brought some mistakes to light which was going to cost them millions. They asked who it was that had caught the mistakes and saved them millions. They said that was the kind of dedication they were looking for and offered me a job. They offered me this huge paycheck, twice what I was making, paid for my moving expenses, hired a realtor to find me a place here and one to sell my apartment back there.” 

Jensen studied him. He could see the innocence. Jared had no idea who he was working for and Jensen’s gut twisted at that thought. “I kinda needed the money,” Jared suddenly felt a need to further make Jensen understand, though he didn’t know why. He took a good job, like anyone would have. What the hell was wrong with it? He got the feeling there was something Jensen wasn’t telling him. 

Jensen touched Jared on the arm, “Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry for being so curious. I’ve heard things about them, that’s all.” Jensen was now struggling with wanting to grab Jared and hide him away from these people, but he knew he needed to control his sour thinking for the moment. “Can you at least tell me what it’s like working for them? Are they nice to you?” 

Jared suddenly looked thrown off. “I,” he started to explain, “Well, I think so...I mean the books are kind of a mess so I’ve got my work cut out for me but,” Jensen touched him on the arm again, “I’m not talking about the work. Are they ‘nice’ to you? Do they treat you well?” Jared paused, dumbfounded for a few seconds. Why the hell was this cop even asking this? 

“Uhm, kind of...I guess,” Jared really didn’t know what to say. How nice were bosses supposed to be? He’d only been there a few months and he was still getting to know people. Jensen let it go for the moment. He could hear raised voices near the front lobby and by the nervous way Jared reacted, he knew one of them must be the young man’s boss.

“I think I should go, can I go?” Jared’s anxiety showed when he met Jensen’s eyes. “Hey, you’ve done nothing wrong,” Jared’s fear elevated Jensen’s anger, “I’m charge of this case and no matter how much he barks, he’s not getting in here. And furthermore, my first concern is ‘you’, not ‘him’. If I don’t think you’re okay to leave with him, he’ll be escorted out with in his fancy suit and I’ll be driving you to the ER myself. Is that clear?” 

Jared opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly backtracked and nodded, “Yeah,” still sounding worried. His boss had gotten quieter, thank god. Jensen’s partner must have said something similar to what Jensen just did. Jensen searched the young man’s eyes again, took another look at the bruising on Jared’s face, then dug a business card from his pocket. 

Jensen was worried about this kid. He wrote something on the back of the card and handed it to Jared while meeting his eyes, “Keep this. That’s my private cell. Any time, Jared, and I mean ‘any’ time, day or night. Do not hesitate if you need to talk to me, is that clear?” Jared took the card and smiled softly, “Thank you.” 

Jensen sighed, “As much as I’d like to keep you here and make you rest for awhile, I guess I need to let you go, but are you being straight with me about having no dizziness or a ringing in your ears?” Jared hurried to answer, “No...I mean yes, I swear, none of that.” Jensen sighed. He believed him. The beautiful kid was an open book. 

“Okay...you feeling well enough to stand and walk out?” Jared nodded. He looked worried, but grateful to be getting out of there and appeasing his employer, so Jensen stood up with his hands out to help the younger man. Jared stood with his help and they walked very slowly toward the front of the gym. 

Jensen realized the kid’s limp was less pronounced, and he seemed pretty steady on his feet. These were all good things. “That your boss?” Jensen glanced at Jeff Morgan and a business suited man at the door. Jared looked at the man and nodded, “Yeah, that’s Chase Murray. From what I’ve learned about them, so far, he’s the more patient and friendlier one between the two.” 

Jensen watched Murray, who was currently eyeballing the other detective with seething resentment, and looking around the gym like it was infested with oozing ulcerous sores. “Yeah, I can tell,” Jensen responded, mockingly, then he glanced at Jared and noticed the young man’s smirk. Jensen barely had time to appreciate it and return his own matching grin when Jared’s boss spoke up. 

“Jared,” the suited wonder called out. Jensen’s hackles rose as they walked up to the man. He spoke right to Jared and completely ignored Jensen and Jeff. “Jared, what happened? Are you alright?” Jared opened his mouth to say something, but his boss looked at the detectives without waiting for him to answer.

“Why hasn’t anyone been arrested for this? Look at his face,” Chase Murray bitched to Jensen. The detective already hated him. “Yes, I’ve seen his face, and his knee and the cuts and bruises on his arms too. Did you bother to see those? It’s why we have a felony want out for the suspect and why we needed to have him checked by paramedics to make sure he didn’t need to be in a hospital.” 

Murray sighed impatiently, then looked back to Jared, “How did this happen?” Jared gave him the brief version, then ended with the thief running off with the fancy new laptop. Murray sighed and closed his eyes, but then seemed to catch himself, “The equipment isn’t important, Jared, we can replace all of that...but we’ll have to hurry and transfer your shared drive to another device before our negotiations. Can you function alright for the meeting?” 

Jared started to answer, but Jensen interrupted, “You’re kidding right? You’re making him ‘work’?” Jensen’s tone of disapproval wasn’t missed by anyone. Murray glanced at the cop, “Jared knows how important this meeting is, Detective. I’ll have our on call physician take a look at him just as soon as we’re done.” Murray looked back at Jared, “You feeling up to it?” Jared quickly nodded, “Yes, it’s fine, I’ll be okay.” 

“Well, isn’t that nice of you,” Jensen angrily mumbled under his breath while Jared was escorted out with his boss. Jensen’s lip curled and his eyes shot daggers at the millionaire’s back. He knew Jared was under pressure to please his new employers and the young man simply didn’t want to complain. Jared’s limp wasn’t helping Jensen’s mood. 

Jeff Morgan slapped Jensen on the shoulder, as the two detectives followed the other men out. There was a black car at the curb with tinted windows and a driver standing at the back door. Jensen noticed a marked locksmith’s truck parked behind it. The locksmith came over to Jared and handed him a new key. “Thank you,” he took it and started to limp to his car. 

“I’ll meet you at the office,” his employer called to him and proceeded to get in the back seat of his large black sedan. Jensen couldn’t believe the audacity of the asshole. He didn’t even help his injured employee to the car. “Jared,” Jensen called to the younger man, as he trotted up behind him. Jared halted and turned, just as Jensen took his arm and supported him the rest of the way to a dark grey Pathfinder. 

“You gonna be okay?” Jensen held the door while Jared maneuvered his banged up body into the driver’s seat. “I can pull a police detainment on you and keep you around long enough so you don’t have to do this damn meeting.” Jared started the engine and looked over at Jensen. He read the worry in Jensen’s eyes and smiled softly, “I really appreciate you being so nice, but this meeting isn’t something I can miss. It’s a huge deal for them and I’ve done all the prep. I’ll just pop some Motrin when it’s over and get home.” 

Jensen still looked worriedly at him. Something compelled him to gently move the strands of hair out of Jared’s eyes, but he held himself back. It wasn’t easy. “Jared, I meant what I said...don’t forget the cell number on that card. You call me any time, okay?” Jared smiled again and nodded, “I will. Thank you.” 

Jensen shut the door, struggling with himself to let Jared go. The kid’s boss was an asshole... ‘and Jared said he was the nicer one,’ Jensen thought. Jensen waited with unsettled regret while Jared put his car into gear and backed out. He walked back to the gym where Morgan was, glancing back briefly to see the kid’s car pull out of the lot. Damn, that had been hard to let him drive off. 

Jensen turned to meet Jeffrey Morgan’s knowing smirk. “What!?” Jensen bitched, knowing damn well his colleague was about to deliver some punch line. Jeff put his hand on Jensen’s shoulder, “We’ve got video.” Jensen eyed him suspiciously, “Okay, that’s good...but what are you fucking smirking at?” 

Jeffrey smiled wider and nudged Jensen to walk with him toward the back office, “Hey, I’m just glad you thought he was pretty too. Must mean I have good taste.” Jensen sighed in irritation and rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t judging his looks, Morg, I was focused on his condition and getting information for the report.” His friend laughed out loud, “Sure Ackles, that’s why you let him leave with your flannel shirt over his shoulders.” Jensen closed his eyes and sighed, “Fuck!”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jensen worries. He needs to speak to Jared about the case and the younger man hasn’t been returning his phone calls. Jensen thinks he’s smitten, then he loses hope...then he gets it back when the adorable accounting expert shows a bit of returned interest.

CHAPTER TWO 

Two weeks went by. Jensen had been busy with search warrants, testifying and scheduling a stake out of a suspected auto theft ring. Crime wasn’t going down and it was as busy as ever. His team had been backup for several drug and prostitution operations in other divisions, leaving him barely enough time to think. 

He thanked his sixth sense for assigning an undercover officer at the gym. The red hat wearing loser that assaulted Jensen’s innocent victim two weeks ago, finally returned to repeat his crime. On the two week mark, the same suspect was observed by Jensen’s detective trying out locker room padlocks, just as Jared told him he did the first time. The undercover officer, posing as a gym employee, asked him what he was doing and he gave the same excuse. 

After watching the suspect peruse around the gym, the undercover officer followed him outside and took him down just before he came up behind an unsuspecting businessman, going to his car around ten at night. The rotating detectives had started to whine about nothing happening and begged to be reassigned, but Jensen refused and now it had paid off. 

One of the perks of this job was being able to actually call a victim and say “we got him”. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, there was an inner sigh of peace that balanced out the day to day feeling of unsuccessful efforts to save the world. Jensen loved this part of the job...he also got to talk to Jared again. Hopefully, that is. 

He had called Jared two days after the incident to check on his wellbeing and never received a call back. Jensen was surprised, and disappointed too. The younger man hadn’t seemed uncomfortable around him, and surely didn’t seem like the type of person to just blow someone off. Jensen even told him to hang onto the shirt for awhile.

Once again, Jensen reached Jared’s voicemail, but instead of the smooth articulate sound of Jared’s message recording, the automatic reply was on. Jensen left a message after the tone, “Hey, Jared, this is Sergeant Ackles with Austin Police Department. I have good news. We’ve caught the suspect who robbed you and I’m happy to say he’s in custody. We’re actually finding multiple hits on him through our database so he’s gonna be charged with other crimes, but in order to finalize the prosecution’s report on ‘your’ case, I need to have you ‘id’ him. If you can call me as soon as possible, I’d really appreciate it. If it’s not convenient to come here, I can bring his photo’s to you if you name a place. In case you lost my card, my number’s 512-707-2355. That’s my cell so you don’t get stuck on hold calling my desk. I hope you’re doing well.” 

Jensen hung up, once again disappointed. So much for getting to know the kid on his personal time. It didn’t look like Jared gave a hoot. This time, however, there wasn’t an option to just let Jared be, though. Jensen absolutely had to have the victim’s line up id on the suspect in order to get Jared’s attack filed. He needed to speak with him, whether the younger man wanted to or not. 

Jensen worked on files all afternoon until he realized it was after five. He still hadn’t heard back from Jared, so he grabbed his long sleeve cover shirt and headed out the door. Jeff Morgan spotted Jensen on his way out and stopped him, “Hey, big guy, congrats on nabbing the dickhead from the gym.” Jensen smiled, “Yeah, thanks. He was just about to jump on another victim.” 

Jeffrey asked, “Did you tell the kid yet?” Jensen said, “I tried, but he hasn’t been answering me, so I’m headed to his place for a positive id.” Morgan looked concerned, “That didn’t seem like him to ignore his phone calls. Seemed like a smart responsible guy to me, you want me to go with you?”Jensen shook his head, “Nah, I got this, lemme see what’s up and I’ll update you when I find him.” Morgan nodded, still looking concerned, “I hope he’s okay Jensen. Let me know, okay? He works for an asshole.” 

Jensen nodded, “I’ll let you know,” then headed to his car. He punched Jared’s address into his GPS, thinking the address seemed familiar. He thought it was a newer complex of townhomes with a security gate and controlled access. He vaguely remembered the townhomes going in a few years ago and because they didn’t get many calls around there, it wasn’t something he knew very well. At least Jared’s employers found a safe living area for him, even ‘if’ they were dickhead criminals just waiting to get caught. 

Jensen thought about the dead end his inquiries had run into when he had snooped around about Barron and Murray. The other units had tried to put a detective on the inside, but the bait had never taken hold. The two men had been investigated for some trafficking, but the only arrestees were a few of their former employees with lesser charges. Police could never place Barron and Murray as responsible for anything. 

Jensen pulled up to the security gate and used his universal key to bypass it. He pulled through and searched for Jared’s address. The complex was huge, but Jared was in a back area lined with about twenty larger one story units. They were unique from the other parcels, and separate, with space between them. They had small fenced in back yards and garages.

The neighborhood was quiet. There were cars parked at some of the other units, but not one in front of Jared’s. It was still light, close to six p.m. so Jensen still had a decent view of the area. He parked his county car in Jared’s driveway and sat for a moment. He knew he should be able to walk up to the door like a professional, but Jensen wanted to make sure he masked any residual feelings first. 

He felt nervous, and chastised himself for it. He was a cop and a veteran before that. He should be able to do his job, dammit. He sighed, more in self disgust than anything else. ‘You know damn well why you’re hesitating, it’s because he’s fucking gorgeous and you can’t stop thinking about him.’ Jensen had been refreshingly interested in someone...finally. He’d been thinking about the younger man, wondering. He’d gone to the gym hoping to see him a few times, but always left in disappointment...then Jared didn’t call him back. 

Now, there was just no choice. Jensen needed this positive id from the kid and Jared would have to talk to him. He looked at the front door with a renewed sense of determination, then got out of the car and went to the porch. Jared’s inner courtyard had several local papers laying on the steps. They were rubber banded. Jensen picked several up and noted the dates. It seemed the kid hadn’t been home for at least a week. 

He rang the door bell and waited. He rang again and knocked. Jensen peered through the small six inch wide vertical little window next to the door and noticed a thin opague white see through curtain over it. He could make out what looked like a carryon piece of luggage sitting on the back of the couch, some clothing and shoes strewn about. Either someone was leaving, or they’d just gotten back. 

There was a dining room table adjacent to the couch and a stack of mail sitting on it.   
Jensen couldn’t see more than that, except another much wider curtain over a back sliding door. Jensen hated to be intrusive, but it had now become necessary. A victim or witness who worked for an asshole and left the scene with injuries, now falling strangely out of contact and not returning calls was enough cause for a face to face welfare check.

He tried the doorbell again and waited. After a couple more tries, he felt justified to snoop. There wasn’t a sound coming from inside. Jensen walked around the side of the place, looked over the fence and saw a neat little courtyard with partial view of a greenbelt behind it. There were reclining lawn chairs and a flame rock fireplace. 

Jensen walked around the other way and looked in the side door to Jared’s garage. He noticed the dark grey Pathfinder that Jared had driven off in when he left the gym. So, Jared was home but not answering his voice mails, nor answering the front door. Jensen’s worry increased for the younger man. He could be hurt, or worse, laying inside and unconscious. 

Jensen looked to his right and saw another gate on this side of the little yard. He looked through the cracks and saw another sliding door. ‘Must be the master bedroom,’ Jensen thought, as his law enforcement instincts reached a more alarming level. He inwardly prayed to whoever would listen that he wasn’t about to find this innocent charming young kid laying in a puddle of blood in the back bedroom. 

Things like this were always on a cop’s mind. People got hurt, people died, people got murdered. ‘Please no,’ he begged, using a tool to easily pop the back slider latch. Jensen drew his gun and quietly slid the slider open. Considering who the kid worked for, God knows what he could be walking into. 

Jensen brushed the curtain aside and stepped quietly into the room. He stood pefectly still. It was dark. There was no shower running, no music playing. He listened intently, waiting for any movement. Jensen’s eyes landed on the lump in the huge king sized bed. It was definitely Jared’s length, but there were so many layers of bedding over the lump, Jensen couldn’t detect the rise and fall of a person breathing. 

With another prayer to above, Jensen moved stealthily over to the bed until he was face to face with where he ‘thought’ a person’s face should be. Jensen listened further and inwardly sighed when he heard the unmistakable sound of deep even breathing and a very a slight snore. He immediately put his gun back in it’s holster. Jensen very lightly lifted a thin sheet that was over the person’s face, just to check and make sure this was Jared. 

What he saw was the same angelic face with the perfect cheek bones and gorgeous peacefully long closed lashes. The bruising on Jared’s left cheek had faded to almost nothing now. Jensen quickly dropped the light sheet back where it was and stood up straight with a sigh of relief. ‘Thank God he’s okay,’ he mentally relaxed. The kid had obviously returned from a trip and hit the bed, absolutely exhausted. 

This was good...it was good because his victim was fine...but it was bad because now Jensen needed to get out of there so he didn’t scare Jared half to death if he woke up and found him in his room. He now knew the younger man was in one piece, at least. ‘Maybe something happened to his phone,’ Jensen wondered, ‘or maybe he went somewhere without a signal.’ 

Jensen mentally gnawed on what could have caused Jared not to call him back, while he made his way quietly back to the slider and exited. He shut it back and locked it with his special entry tool, then backtracked his way to the car and sat inside for a moment. 

Jensen really needed to talk with Jared and it had to be done right away. The DA needed to have the filing within 48 hours or Jensen’s suspect would be free of Jared’s assault and robbery charges. 

Jensen made his decision and took out another business card. He wrote a note to call him asap, then went back and stuck it in the crack of Jared’s door. If he didn’t hear from Jared by morning, he’d pay a return visit and plant himself here until Jared made an appearance. 

Jensen went home and went for a run through his neighborhood before he showered and ate dinner. He was so glad Jared was alive and well that it surpassed all the reasons why the kid had been avoiding him. Not everybody favored speaking to cops, of course, and Jensen had certainly had an abundance of those people to deal with over the last fifteen years, but Jared hadn’t given off any indication of that. Jensen still wondered what the hell he would find out when he finally talked to the kid. 

The next morning, Jensen woke to his blaring alarm. He smacked the snooze button and rubbed his face. ‘Annoying piece of shit,’ Jensen’s thoughts growled, but then he remembered it was Friday. “Fuck yes,” the detective grumbled to himself. ‘Finally.’ After he closed up Jared’s case today, his plan was to take an extended weekend and completely avoid police work. If he could just get through today, he was taking a much needed five days off. 

Jensen had been burning it at both ends for months. His team had closed up some pertinent cases and with his gym caper filed, there would be nothing pending that would stop him from being absent. He got ready for work and grabbed a banana on his way out the door. He checked his phone. When he noticed Jared hadn’t called, he decided to head for his place again. 

Jensen was no nonsense this time. It was important that he speak to the man and definitely required his positive id in his report to get charges filed against their suspect. He was running out of time. If Jared had turned into some uncooperative witness, well that was just too bad. What Jensen wasn’t quite comfortable with was finding himself pissed about it. 

Jensen rang the doorbell multiple times, knocking loudly in between. He looked at his watch and decided it was early, but not god awful early. If the kid had been sleeping all this time, then shit it wasn’t unreasonable to force him to get up. The card dropped that he’d shoved in the door crack last night, never having been moved. At least he knew Jared hadn’t seen it and refused to call him. 

Jensen sighed, as he rang the door bell again. Frustration was overwhelming now. This didn’t make any sense. What the fuck was Jared’s problem? Was he a drinker? A drug addict? Jensen thought over his experience with identifying those traits in a person right away and realized he surely would have noticed that in Jared. That couldn’t be the case. 

After knocking once more, Jensen finally saw the six foot five shadow moving through the thin curtain and coming toward the door. ‘Fucking finally,’ Jensen sighed again, feeling relief and frustration flood his system at the same time. The shadow was moving sluggishly, like a person who was not quite eager to answer the door. It seemed to take a full two minutes for the slow as fuck young man to get the locks open. 

Jensen found himself speechless when the door opened. His mouth had opened to greet the kid with his professional spiel, but Jared’s appearance stunned him into silence. Jensen’s mouth hung there, suspended, then rolled into a clamped shut set of lips, as he tried valiantly not to grin. The anger was gone. The inner frustration disappeared. Everything he’d been thinking was suddenly a distant memory. 

Jensen was faced with a deliciously adorable vision. The man was barely conscious. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning, looking completely frumpled in a set of baggy pajama pants and a baggy t-shirt. This wasn’t an uncooperative witness, nor a blatantly rude asshole who was pointedly ignoring him. This was the cutest sight Jensen had seen in a long long time...probably since his Golden Retriever had birthed eight adorable puppies and Jensen’s parents let him keep one because he couldn’t seem to live without it. 

Jensen took a few extra seconds. Jared was even cuter than he remembered. His feet were bare and Jensen could see the toes curling up, reacting to the icy cold floor. Now he felt terrible for having negative thoughts about the gorgeous accountant. The poor man had obviously been wrapped up snug in his layers of blankets and still asleep. Jensen’s incessant noise had waken him up, but he still seemed to be working on the fact that Jensen was at the door. 

“Uh...Jared, I...hi,” Jensen opened, but paused when Jared pinched his eye sockets and held the bridge of his nose for a few seconds. He brushed his hair back and forced his sleepy eyes to focus on Jensen. “Hi,” Jared’s sleepy greeting was almost missed by a distracted Jensen, who couldn’t seem to look away from Jared’s eyes. 

‘Grey,’ Jensen was pleasantly distracted, ‘misty steel grey right now and the light from outside catches on little diamond sparkly specks.’ Jensen sighed, mentally lectured himself to get with it and tried for something more intelligent, “I’m really sorry to wake you up, Jared. I was worried...I hadn’t heard back from you and there’s an update to the case. I need you to identify someone we’ve arrested. Do you mind if we talk a minute?” 

‘There, that was professional,’ Jensen proudly congratulated himself. Jared was quite the beautiful distraction, after all, and anyone who could look past that deserved a medal. Jared took a good long minute for his mind to catch up to Jensen’s words. When he could think straight, he suddenly looked confused, “I don’t...was I supposed to get back to you?” 

Jared suddenly looked worried, then he turned from the door and went to his strewn about pack and clothes, searching through pockets and compartments quickly. He glanced at Jensen, “I just,” then looked down through his things again. Jensen remained at the door, deciding to be patient and enjoy watching the cute numbers expert try and do whatever he was doing. God, Jared was beautiful. 

The younger man finally pulled a cell phone out of a compartment in the carryon and checked it, as he walked back to Jensen. He looked terribly guilty and concerned, as he brushed his hair back and shook his head, “I don’t...I don’t have any messages from you, did you leave one?” The beautiful innocent face looked back up at Jensen and now the detective felt like pond scum. 

Jared hadn’t been avoiding him, this was simply some kind of glitch or lack of connection. The poor kid felt terrible and Jensen could see the honesty in his eyes. He rushed to reassure him, “I did...left two actually. One the day after I saw you last, then another one yesterday. But, it’s okay.” 

Jared felt terrible, “No, it’s not okay. I’m so sorry, I,” he looked at his phone again, shaking his head. “I have dozens of work ones but nothing from...” Jared suddenly dropped his hand with the phone in it and sighed with his eyes closed. “Jesus, I’m so sorry,” he leaned his forehead in the palm of his hand. 

When Jared looked up, he had even more heartfelt apology in his eyes, “My bosses replaced my phone and when they gave it to me, it didn’t have the same number. I didn’t even think,” he shook his head, clearly angry at himself. Jensen nodded in understanding, “Jared, don’t worry about it. You’re in one piece, and that’s all that matters.” 

Jared sighed again, in resignation, “It was stupid, and I’m sorry.” Jesus, what a dumb ass,’ he was thinking. Jensen could see he felt terrible about missing his calls. Something about that caused a warm feeling of reassurance and renewed hope wash through him. “Please stop beating yourself up, it’s really okay,” he discovered he couldn’t stand to watch Jared feel bad. 

Jensen inwardly grinned when the cute numbers expert invited him in, “So...do you wanna come in?” Jared looked hopeful, firing on a few more cylinders now, even though he was freezing with the damn door open. “Sure,” Jensen said, as he stepped inside the door. Jensen could see Jared still wasn’t fully awake and the residual sleepy look wasn’t doing much for his self control. 

After Jared shut the door, he made a bee line for his kitchen and started putting together a pot of coffee. His back was turned, so Jensen had a moment to inspect the silky strands of hair that were kind of doing their own thing on Jared’s bed head. 

Jared was fucking stunning...and not just on the exterior, though that exterior was damn near perfect. Right now, his adorable innocent charm was eating at Jensen’s ability to do his job, that was for sure, and Jensen knew he’d better reign himself in. “So,” Jensen opened some light conversation, “you just get back from somewhere?” 

He took a seat on a bar stool, leaned on his elbows and folded his hands. Jared glanced back at him, “Sort of.” Jensen nodded, even though the young man couldn’t see him. He accepted the short choppy response, guessing that Jared didn’t want to share where he’d been. 

Jensen waited a few seconds until Jared finally spoke again, glancing between him and the precious coffee maker, “Sorry, just...lemme get this. I can’t fucking think without it.” Jensen grinned, now understanding. This was turning out to be the best morning he’d had in years. He waited while Jared finished setting up the pot, then started on a mini espresso shot machine. He glanced back at Jensen again, “You want some? I kind of mix my coffee with espresso, but you don’t have to have it that way.” 

Jensen pleasantly responded, “Hell yes, I’d love some...and just like you drink it is fine. Thank you.” ‘So,’ Jensen deduced, ‘he’s a coffee fiend.’ Jensen put that on his mental list of things they had in common. ‘A coffee fiend who is fucking cute as hell in a pair of baggy pajama bottoms.’ Jensen grinned inwardly. The object of his study turned around holding two hot steaming mugs of fresh coffee with shots of espresso in them. 

Jared obviously hadn’t even waited for the pot to fill...he’d filled their mugs right from the drip. He put one mug in front of Jensen, then grabbed a small container of creamer from the refrigerator. “Sugar?” Jared asked, as he used the creamer, then set it by Jensen’s cup. “Nah, this is fine,” Jensen answered. He poured a dollop of the creamer into his cup, then lifted his mug in salute to Jared, “Thanks...this definitely makes my Friday.” 

Jensen took his first sip of the scalding liquid, dampened just a bit by the cream. He glanced up and noticed Jared sipping his own cup. When both men had consumed a few sips, Jensen set his cup down and waited for Jared to do the same. Instead of copying him, Jared finished his cup completely. He sighed a heavenly sound with is eyes closed, then turned to refill his cup. Obviously, he wasn’t ready to speak yet. 

Jensen didn’t disturb him. This was too entertaining. He really wasn’t in a hurry, anyway. Jared turned back with a second cup and inhaled it this time before sipping it. ‘Jesus,’ Jensen watched him partake in a few scalding sips, then close his eyes and moan while the stimulant permeated through his nerve endings. Jared rubbed the back of his neck and finally sighed in satisfaction. Jensen decided this was the cutest fucking thing he’d ever seen. 

Jared finally spoke, “It’s nice to meet someone whose love for caffeine matches my own.” Jensen smiled, as the younger man continued, “but, I’m usually a one cup person. Today was just,” Jared shook his head and looked down. “The whole last week and a half has been one fucking thing after another.” 

Jensen watched him with concern, “Work?” Jared nodded and looked up at him, “Yeah.” He looked over at his luggage and started over that way, “I’m sorry for the mess,” Jared began stuffing clothing back into the carryon and picked up a pair of dress shoes that he’d apparently taken off in a hurry. “Hey, you don’t have to do that,” Jensen rushed to stop him. 

He walked over to the younger man, “Jared, really, this is your place,” but the younger man wouldn’t be placated. He carried the things out and put them in the bedroom, hurried back but then stopped like he just thought of something. Jensen watched him, worried about Jared thinking he had to do ‘any’ of this for him. Jared held up a finger, “Just a second,” then hurried to the bedroom again. 

Jensen opened his mouth to say something, but the kid was only half a minute before returning. This time, Jared had a sweatshirt and socks in his hand and something else Jensen had forgotten about. It was Jensen’s flannel shirt. 

“Here, I had this cleaned, but I’m sorry I totally forgot to call you about it,” Jared handed Jensen the plastic covered shirt on a hangar. It had definitely come from the cleaners. “Oh...you didn’t have to do that, Jared, but thank you,” Jensen accepted the shirt. The younger man sat on his couch and proceeded to slip the socks on and put on the sweatshirt over his t-shirt. It was definitely freezing this time of year, it had just taken him a couple espresso shots to realize he was dressed pretty thinly. 

“Well, you didn’t have to loan it to me either,” the younger man commented, “and you made that whole experience so much easier, by the way.” Jensen smiled, genuinely pleased that Jared felt that way. He watched Jared suddenly get up and flip a switch on the wall by the fireplace, causing instant flames to appear. The wonderful comforting heat drifted toward them. 

Jared faced Jensen again, then looked down at himself, “Oh.” He looked up at Jensen, “I,” then tried to subtly cross his arms over his front, “I can go change,” he said nervously, “I forgot I had these on.” Jared’s nervousness made Jensen grin. The embarrassed hot accountant in front of him would look exquisite in absolutely ‘anything’ and Jensen was sure of that. 

“Please don’t. I’m invading your home and you don’t have to clean up anything and you certainly don’t have to change...and you ‘certainly’ didn’t have to spoil me with espresso...which was alot tastier than the shit I usually drink. Is this your day off?” Jared tried to relax at Jensen’s reassurances. He came back over to sit on the couch, realizing it was all coming back to him, now. Jensen had relaxed him before and he was doing it again. 

“Yeah, actually...I get the next four days off. I don’t have to go back until Tuesday,” Jared smiled at Jensen. He rolled his eyes and added, “Finally,” plainly irritated. Jensen grinned at the eye roll, then collected his thoughts. Now, he needed to get something off his chest. Jared was looking at him with wide innocence and he couldn’t stand it. 

“Jared, I want you to know something. I don’t want to keep this from you, so I’m just gonna hit you with it and hope for the best. I was here last night...around six. I want you to understand how worried I was. When a victim doesn’t answer us, we check on them. I saw your car in the garage and it worried me more. At the risk of finding you hurt or dead in the house, I managed to get in the bedroom slider and check on you. I’m sorry if that feels invasive. I swear it wasn’t my intention.”

Jared had definitely not expected that. He had to think about this. Jensen was in his house? While he was asleep? ‘Um, okay, if he wasn’t a cop checking on me, I guess that would be totally creepy.’ Jensen could see Jared was running through scenarios...trying to be comfortable with it. “I checked that you were breathing and then high tailed it back out. I swear it was only a few seconds. Again, I’m sorry if it creeps you out.” 

Jared studied Jensen and could tell the detective was truly worried about his feelings on the matter. He offered Jensen a quick smile, “I understand.” He still felt disconcerted, but he realized what that must have been like to have him not return an officer’s calls and then refuse to answer the door. 

Jared suddenly looked at Jensen worriedly, “I wasn’t like...drooling or singing...or doing anything stupid like that, was I?” Jensen laughed, caught off guard. “That’s what you’re worried about?” Jensen shook his head, while Jared looked sheepishly worried, “I...yeah, I guess.” Jensen grinned, completely enchanted with this kid, “If you were, I didn’t notice. I promise you, it was only a second to make sure it was you and that you were breathing. I practically ran back out that slider because then I felt bad and didn’t want to scare you if you woke up.” 

Jared cleared his throat and nodded. He tried to push past his discomfort about it because he wanted to explain why he’d been sleeping for fourteen hours, “I didn’t get back here ‘til four yesterday and I was so tired I just hit the bed. I’m really sorry for being a problem. I really didn’t mean to worry you to that extent. It’s just the last two weeks have been such a whirlwind. I didn’t wanna complain to them because I’m still pretty new, but...fuck, they just demand and push and I’m afraid I lost track of everything else.” 

Jensen searched the younger man’s eyes, “It’s not about me, Jared, and you are in no way a problem and you don’t have to apologize. I’m so damn glad you’re okay, that’s all I cared about. But I have to ask why these people you work for don’t remember that you’re human. Do they exhaust everyone like this all the time, or just you? And what about the day of the attack...did you get to see a doctor and get some rest?”

“I saw a doctor,” Jared rushed to appease the cop. He looked down, “At least I think it was a doctor,” then he looked back up at Jensen. The older man raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean you ‘think’ it was a doctor?” Jared explained, “I froze up,” then looked off as if remembering, “I couldn’t move. The meeting went five hours. They argued and changed the deal back and forth. Figures had to be done over and over. I remember shutting down and not being able to control it. I kind of zoned out and there was a stranger shining lights in my eyes and touching my bruises and then I woke up the next afternoon. I was on the leather couch in our common area with an iv in my hand.” 

Jared shrugged a shoulder, then looked back up at Jensen, “I don’t remember anything else.” Jensen studied this victim for a few seconds. His mind was racing through possibilities of what could have happened to a vulnerable person like that in Jared’s state. Hopefully, it ‘had’ been a real doctor, and at least the man had given Jared fluids. He never should have let him leave with those dicks. 

He looked Jared over. The bruises were mostly gone on his face and the kid had been moving fast around his house...no sign of a limp. “How did you feel when you woke up?” Jensen tried to keep Jared talking, trying to learn as much as he could about what happened. Jared thought for a few seconds, then continued, “Actually I felt much better. They ‘had’ to have given me something in my iv because my knee wasn’t throbbing and my face felt better. All the aches and pains were gone when I got up from the couch. A different guy came back in and took the iv out. He said I didn’t have a concussion, then told me to drink fluids and a company car would be taking me home for the day.” 

Jensen thought about this. ‘A private doctor, no hospital, access to drugs, changing Jared’s phone number.’ He suspected the number could have been changed on purpose to keep Jensen from contacting Jared again. ‘Interesting,’ Jensen thought. Perhaps they didn’t want their employee involved in a police investigation, even if he was a victim. These people had all the makings of suspiciousness, but that didn’t mean anything without proof. 

Jared yawned and continued his rendition of the last two weeks, “After ‘that’, there were three more meetings for the same contract. When those figures were done, it went to Legal so my part was done. Last Friday, I was told to pack for three days and wait for a car to come here and get me. At seven o’clock that night, we hopped on a plane for fifteen hours and landed in Singapore the next day.” 

Jensen barked out in disbelief, “Singapore? Holy shit.” Jared sighed forlornly, “Yep. Wasn’t for a scenic tour of the place, though.” He looked at Jensen, “I don’t even have a passport,” then shrugged a shoulder, “I guess I do now.” Jared looked down at some invisible memory and continued, “Meetings with people. Strangers,” he shook his head, “I did balance sheets, some figures. There were people speaking other languages and translators between them and my bosses.” 

Jared looked at Jensen, “I have no idea who these people were. I heard tidbits and focused on the numbers. There were Apple mentions, and Sony and some Dow Jones comments, but nothing else I even recognized. I guess I felt so out of my league, I was frantically hoping to hear ‘something’ familiar, ya know? Something I could connect with.” Jensen understood. This poor man had been in a den of wolves with no backup. It sounded isolating and terrifying. 

“I made it back. I was so fucking tired I couldn’t even pay attention on the plane back. I think Barron was done with me. He just dropped me off and told me to take off ‘til Tuesday, but I was so fucking glad. We slept in these little pod things all week and I just,” Jared shook his head, “I couldn’t. It felt claustrophobic. The goddamn things are like an MRI machine and I had ‘no’ sleep all week.” 

Jensen wished he could pluck Jared away from these assholes, “So, the three days you packed for turned into six?” Jared nodded, “Yep. Good times,” then feigned a smile, “I’ve pretty much made up my mind I’m not staying there. I just have to figure out how to leave. And I certainly have no idea when I’ll have time to look for something else.” 

Jensen turned hopeful, “Would you look for something here in Austin?” Jared answered, “Yes. I like it here.” Jensen tried not to look too ‘overly’ pleased, “That’s cool.” “The money is important to me, though, so it has to be comparable.” Jensen wasn’t sure why Jared needed to stress that so badly. “Oh,” was all he could think of to say. 

“No,” the younger man shook his head and looked down, “that’s not how I meant it to sound.” When he looked back up at Jensen, there was sadness in his eyes, “Eight years ago, my older sister was killed by a drunk driver. My parents spent all their savings on our college...and then on a funeral.” Jensen remained quiet, his insides twisting into overwhelming sympathy for Jared and his family. 

“My niece was only nine when it happened,” Jared continued, “her father works in a hardware store and funds are limited.” Jared shrugged a shoulder, “There’s no one to pay for her college but me. This job gave me the ability to do that...do it for my sister.” Jared paused. He offered a soft smile to Jensen, but it was obviously just politeness. Jared’s eyes spoke volumes about the pain his family had endured. 

“I’m so very sorry, Jared,” Jensen said. Jared responded softly, “Thank you, but it’s been a long time. It left a huge gap in our family, but my niece fills part of it. It feels like she’s still here...watching. My niece looks like her...has some of her mannerisms. It helps.” Jared smiled briefly. He nervously pushed his hair back with his hand and waited for Jensen to say something. 

Jensen realized he was becoming quite enamored with Jared every second. He could see the younger man missed his sister greatly, but he was trying to keep up a strong front. Jensen hated to see him hurting, so he offered what he could, “What you’re doing...sending her to college...it’s such a beautiful thing to do. How often do you get to see her?” 

Jared perked up, “I saw her more before I left for New York. Her dad and she came to stay with me a couple times. It was fun to do the town. Now that I’m back, I’ll get to see her more...my parents too.” Jensen nodded, “That’s good. I bet your parents have missed you.” Jared smiled, “Yeah,” then turned a little sheepish, “they always beg me to visit more...I just,” he looked down.

Jensen tilted his head, waiting for Jared to continue. The younger man looked up, “I’m not,” he swallowed, “I’m not going to give them any grandchildren. I’m gay,” Jared hesitated before he continued. Jensen nodded, looking at Jared with concern and understanding. “I’ve never told them,” the younger man continued, glancing nervously up at Jensen. “My sister knew...and some friends, but not mom and dad. New York gave me freedom to explore that and not be afraid of it. I’m open about myself, comfortable with it, but I’m not sure about them and I feel like with her gone, they’re expecting...”

Jared trailed off and looked down for a few seconds. He suddenly looked up and smiled at Jensen, “I’m sure that was a lot more than you wanted to hear.” Jensen smiled back, “Actually...no...it’s not. I love learning more about you.” Jensen paused, not sure if he was going too far here, “And Jared, try not to be afraid.” When Jared looked at him confused, Jensen explained, “I mean with your parents. If you’ve turned out this good, they must be pretty spectacular. They might surprise you.” 

Jared smiled, grateful, “I hope you’re right and it’s just me being a chicken. I told myself I would tell them next time I went back, so I guess that’s coming pretty soon...I mean, they’re only a couple hours away now, so I’ll be going soon.” Jared sighed, while Jensen held himself in check. His eyes glanced at Jared’s lips and he realized he was becoming too distracted and needed to focus, dammit. 

For some reason, though, Jensen wasn’t able to stop himself from blurting something else out while he pulled the mini ipad from his pocket, “You know, my family surprised me when I told them.” Jensen looked up to meet Jared’s look of wondrous surprise. Obviously, Jared hadn’t been expecting that. Jensen grinned, “and I’ve got three brothers and a dad who are either military or cops... AND I work in a chauvinistic, ego driven stereotypical profession that’s taking it’s sweet time to advance in it’s acceptance and support of anything other than good ole fashioned red neck christian based beliefs on relationships.” 

Jensen shrugged a shoulder, “And I’m doing okay.” He grinned again, as Jared continued to look flabbergasted. Jensen fiddled with his ipad for a moment, then looked up at the stunned young man and smirked because Jared was too goddamned cute, “I’m sorry, Jared, I didn’t mean to shock you. My point was that sometimes we just stress about it and the people who really love you can surprise you.” 

Jared nodded with a half smile, still silent but at least he felt more reassured. He hadn’t seen that coming, but he was grateful for Jensen’s honesty. “Thank you,” Jared softly blurted out. When Jensen smiled, Jared clarified, “For sharing that with me. It means a lot.” Jensen nodded, but he quickly looked at his ipad in order to get back to business. He knew staring into Jared’s eyes for too long wasn’t going to get his job done, that was for sure. Jesus Christ, the kid’s eyes were dangerous. 

Jensen tapped his ipad screen, while thinking over what he’d just done. He never would have spit something that personal about himself out at any ‘other’ victim or witness, nor a fellow officer he didn’t know that well. Something about Jared had drawn it out of him. Was that a bad thing? Maybe. Fuck, the younger man had been so open and honest, it was hard not to return the favor. 

Jensen decided he could definitely spend all day with Jared, learning more about him for hours and hours, but this wasn’t what he was here for. He felt his dormant libido waking up, but Jared was too nice of a person to be pounced on like prey in a lion’s den. Jensen really needed to suck it up and be a professional. Jared wasn’t going to feel safe any longer if he felt hit on. 

Jensen cleared his throat, forcing himself to not look into the younger man’s swirling hazel grey eyes. Somewhere between answering the door and now, Jared’s eyes had turned back to a hazel mix, with little gold specks and grey tendrils in them. Jensen thought he probably imagined there was also some green in them. No one could ‘possibly’ have that many colors in their eyes, could they? 

‘Dammit, Ackles, focus,’ Jensen berated himself. He finally clicked on enough pages to reach the page he was looking for, then turned the mini iPad toward Jared. “So,” Jensen started out, “These are some different men we’ve arrested. I need you to take your time and look through these photos. See if you can pick out the man who attacked you. This is what we call a technical lineup. If none of them are right, that’s okay. The important thing is getting the right id. So, if you see him, point him out to me, okay?” 

Jared glanced up, “Okay,” then looked down to stare at the screen. Jensen waited while Jared studied the six pictures. He studied them closely, some for shorter times than others. Jensen knew when he’d landed on the red hatted suspect, but he didn’t say anything. This had to be done objectively by Jared. After a few minutes on the same picture, Jared turned the iPad around and pointed to the picture, “That’s him.” 

Jensen looked closely at Jared, “Positive with no doubts?” Jared nodded, “Yes, that’s him...the red hat’s gone, but I’d recognize him anywhere.” Jensen smiled at him, then clicked a few choices on the screen. He put the device in his pocket and looked at Jared with a knowing smirk. “Good job,” Jensen pointed out. When Jared looked inquisitive, Jensen explained, “You did it. He’s the same guy we caught attempting to assault another person heading to his car last night. Same MO, same place.” 

Jared looked pleasantly surprised, “Oh.” Then he looked concerned, “Did he hurt someone?” Jensen quickly assured him, “No, we got him first. He was about to, though. Thanks to you, we’ll add your charges to his line up of others. He’s got multiple robberies in other areas. Usually at a gym, same pattern.” 

Jared couldn’t believe someone would come back to the same place and repeat his crime, “What an idiot.” Jensen grinned, “Yep. They don’t think about cameras and stuff like that when they’re on a roll. By the way, your assault is clear on tape, so he’s toast. It’s from a distance, though, so having a victim as sharp as you identify him is definitely icing on the cake for us.” 

Jared smiled softly and looked down. It was a little disconcerting to know Jensen and others had seen him getting jumped on video. He didn’t know how he felt about that. When Jared looked up, he asked, “So, what happens now?” Jensen explained, “Well, he’ll be arraigned and charged. He’ll either plead guilty or he’ll go to trial and be found guilty. He’ll do time for several charges, but to be honest with you, it won’t be enough.” 

When Jared looked concerned, Jensen explained further, “It’s the laws and overcrowding. He might do five years, or so, even if he gets sentenced to ten.” Jared said, “Oh, I see.” He suddenly looked concerned, “That has to be frustrating for you when they keep getting out.” 

Jensen raised an eyebrow, refreshingly caught off guard, “Well, yeah, it’s actually quite the shit sandwich. They prey upon people over and over...we arrest them over and over...then they get out, over and over. But, we keep trucking along because most of us still believe in what we do. We want to protect nice people, ya know?” 

Jared studied him. Jensen was an amazing human being. So far, he’d been kind and understanding, a remarkable listener, and gorgeous as hell. Jensen hadn’t run screaming, when he told him he was gay. Quite the opposite, he’d shared that he was gay too. Jared’s thoughts wandered, wondering if Jensen was committed to someone. Then he caught himself and realized he needed to stop thinking like that. The cop was just here to do a job.

Jensen wasn’t quite sure what to do with Jared looking at him like he was. He seemed like he was considering something, but Jensen was afraid to even assume it was interest on a personal level. He wanted that...definitely. In fact, he sooo wanted that, but he wasn’t sure how to approach it, yet, without embarrassing himself. 

He cleared his throat, “Well, that’s all I really needed to see you about, unless you have anymore questions for me.” Jared started, realizing he’d been staring, “Um, no...no, I think you’ve answered everything. Thank you, Jensen...thank you for being really ‘really’ nice and especially for looking in on me when I didn’t answer. I promise I’ll answer if you call me again about anything.” 

Jensen smiled, which distracted Jared for a second. The older man seemed to look right through him and Jared wondered if he could see right through to his soul. ‘Fuck, am I that obvious?’ Jared mentally bitched. He stood up, avoiding Jensen’s gaze. The older man’s eyes were like pools of deep green that Jared got lost in and he really needed to not look right now. 

Jared cleared his throat, “So,” he scrolled through his cell phone for a second, “Uhm, here’s my new number,” Jared sent it to the detective. Jensen stood up, pulled his phone out and saved the contact, then he looked up again, “Got it, thanks.” Jensen reminded him of the business card, the first one with his phone number, and the second one he’d left on the door. The offer to call him any time had no expiration date if Jared ever needed anything. Jared smiled gratefully, “Okay. I appreciate that.” 

The men made their way to the door, Jensen picking up the shirt on the way. He knew he was meandering, walking slower than he had to, but he was fighting himself on whether to ask Jared out or at least wait a few days. Jared felt a tug in his heart that Jensen was leaving, but he didn’t know what he could do about it. He followed Jensen to the door, moping at his cowardice to just ask the man if he was interested. 

They reached the door and Jensen opened it. He stepped out onto the porch and turned to face Jared, who leaned against the door frame with his arms folded over his front. It was still icy outside, but at least the sun was shining. The younger man looked down and played with his feet. Jensen watched him for a second, trying to force a controlled pleasant comment, when all he really wanted to do was snatch the poor kid up and kiss the hell out of him. ‘God, he’s intoxicating.’ 

“I really hope you enjoy your days off, Jared...and I hope you get lots of rest. You certainly deserve it.” ‘There,’ Jensen managed, ‘that was professionally polite.’ Jensen smiled at the younger man when he looked up. Jared smiled back and nodded, “Thank you. I’m afraid I don’t have anything exciting planned. Rest sounds good, though.” 

‘Come on Jared, ask him something,’ “So...what about ‘your’ weekend? Do you have any plans?” ‘There,’ Jared planted the seed, ‘let him know you’re interested.’ Jensen grinned, inwardly pleased that Jared cared to ask, “Well, actually I’m taking the next five days off to do whatever the hell I want. It’s been hell the last few weeks and I’m very much looking forward to it.” 

Jared nodded, “That’s nice...good for you.” After a second’s pause, he nervously smoothed his hair back and braved a bit more, “So...do you know whatever the hell it is you want to do yet...or...or do you have like a special someone you do things with?” ‘Jesus, Jared...forward much?’ Jared chastised himself. He sighed and closed his eyes. Jared shifted his stance, thinking Jensen was probably going to make up some quick excuse and run now. 

Jared was terrible at this. He folded his arms and looked down at his feet, rubbing his toes against one another. He tried not to look nervous, but he didn’t know if it was working. When he glanced up, his eyes darted between Jensen and their surroundings, “I’m sorry, that,” Jared started, “I shouldn’t have asked that,” he finished, then he looked down. 

Jensen wasn’t bothered, though. “No,” he interjected, “No, it’s okay to ask me that. You can ask me anything.” He had been studying the adorable accountant and was quite sure he saw a reciprocated attraction coming from him. When Jared looked up at him, Jensen added further, “And no, I don’t have a special someone I do things with.” Jared nodded, “Oh,” then looked back down at his feet. 

Jensen started to grin, “I guess that would be nice, though. How about you?” Jared looked up, in surprise. After a few seconds pause, he answered, “No,” then looked down with a shy grin. Jensen made a quick decision to go out on a limb. He couldn’t possibly be reading this wrong, could he? 

Jensen cleared his throat. “So, Jared...this isn’t something I’d normally do,” Jensen paused. He was really terrible at this. “I do ‘not’ want you to feel uncomfortable about this, or...or uneasy, either...so please feel free to say ‘no’.” Jensen sighed again. Jared looked up at him when he paused, searching his eyes. Holy fuck, was Jensen about to ask him out? 

Jensen continued, “Would you...maybe want to have coffee with me, or lunch, or dinner...do something over the weekend? I mean the case is over and...and I’m off and you’re off..and the truth is, I would really like to spend more time with you.” There was no mistaking ‘that’ invitation. If Jared wasn’t interested, this would be the revealing moment, for sure. Jensen braced himself for the rejection. 

Jared could see that had been an internal struggle for Jensen to ask. He was touched beyond belief, and thrilled. Of course he wanted this. “Yes,” Jared wasted no time answering. He smirked at the boyish grin on Jensen’s face, “Yes, I’d love to.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is full of a little humor, some cute pre-date moments and a protective Jensen running into his favorite accountant at the gym.

CHAPTER THREE 

Chapter Three 

 

Jensen spent the rest of his Friday closing up Jared’s case, among a few others. He met with his team and made sure all the reports were done correctly, then passed everything on to the intake office for filing. He gave a run down to his captain on things, let everyone know he was taking a few extra days off, then grabbed his over shirt and headed for Jeff’s office. 

“Hey Ackles,” his friend looked up when Jensen entered. He dropped into one of Jeffrey’s visitor chairs and put his feet up on the desk like he’d done it a hundred times...which he had. The two men had gone to the academy together. Morgan came from the Marines and Jensen from the Army. When their academy class was screwing up, Jensen and Jeff banded together and kicked everyone’s ass until they made it to graduation. 

Ever since then, the two had been close. They loved their line of work. Even though shit went sour more often, than not, they both realized years ago that this was their calling. “So,” Jeff started out, “you here to brag about closing up three capers in two weeks and leaving my old ass with about seventy unfounded’s?” 

Jensen smirked and rolled his eyes, “No, asshole, I’m not.” After a pause, he smiled wider, “Well maybe a little,” then chuckled at Jeff’s “fuck you.” Jensen offered, “There anything I can help you with?” Morgan sighed, “Nah, s’the same old shit, Jensen. I’ve got a whole lotta nothing and one lead that’s panning down tonight. It’s all good. I just wish these damn rookies could write a fuckin’ report. You’d think with you and me teaching some of the classes now that we’d get somewhere.” 

Morgan held up a report to Jensen, “Look at this...he spells the word paraphernalia with all f’s. What the fuck, are the public schools that bad?” Jensen sighed and rubbed his neck, while reading some of the narrative. He handed the report back and shook his head, “It’s fuckin’ mind boggling. You just have to keep making ‘em redo and redo until they finally learn.” 

Morgan closed the file and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his eyes, then relaxed and eyed Jensen closely. There seemed to be a bit of a spark to the man’s demeanor, but Jeff wasn’t sure if it was just the successful week causing it, “So, what’cha got goin’ over the weekend?” 

Jensen shrugged and looked around, “Oh, just relaxing, maybe the gym...probably take the boat out and freeze my ass off.” Jensen shrugged a shoulder again, going for non chalant, “just not being here will be nice.” Jeff studied him. They were both trained at reading people...whether it be criminals, witnesses or victims...but they usually didn’t use those skills on each other.

Jeff Morgan leaned forward on his elbows and raised an eyebrow. Jensen was hiding something. “You know...I’d buy that carefree non chalant crap if it wasn’t so damn over the top. You’re a lousy actor. What the hell are you ‘really’ doing this weekend?” Jensen rubbed his head a bit and tried harder to act as though his friend was totally imagining things. 

When Jensen landed his eyes back on Jeff, he couldn’t deny his smirk any longer. Jeff’s intense stare could see right through him. ‘Fuck,’ he thought. “Ackles?” Morgan looked suspicious. After a long pause, Jeff’s suspicions turned hopeful, “You’re going out with somebody, aren’t you?” Jensen rolled his eyes, then snorted in disbelief. Finally, he smirked at Jeff again, knowingly, “Maybe.” 

Morgan practically jumped out of his skin, “YES!” He eagerly inched closer, “Please tell me it’s the cute kid from the gym...is it?” Jensen sighed and rolled his eyes, trying to be irritated but smirking, instead. “It IS. Fuck, Jensen, you really asked him out?” 

Jensen jumped up and shut Jeff’s door. “Christ, keep it down, will ya? I don’t want everybody to know,” Jensen sat back down. “Well, is it him?” Morgan pushed. Jensen sighed and rolled his eyes, “Yes, it’s him.” Jeffrey hit the table hard with his hands, “YES...I ‘knew’ it!” Jensen glanced behind him out the office window and back at his friend, “Keep it the fuck down.” He sighed, not wanting the whole damn place to hear them. 

Morgan tried to subdue himself, but he couldn’t stop grinning, “I can’t fucking believe this...this is awesome.” Jensen rubbed the back of his neck, while Morgan pushed for more information, “So, what is it...dinner? Movie, what? How did you get him to say yes?” Jensen smirked and sighed, “Well, he id’d the suspect and I kinda thought...well, I hoped, anyway...” Jensen shrugged his shoulder, “I ‘hoped’ he was interested. I didn’t know what the hell to say, really...I just asked if I could spend more time with him and get to know him and...he said yes.” 

Jensen smirked at his friend’s excitement over this. He knew Jeff had been waiting for him to show an interest in someone for a long time. The last ten years had included a couple trysts, some attempted relationships, but nothing that lasted. It was hard to meet people, whether straight or gay, in this line of work. Gay was even more difficult...and the fact that Jensen wasn’t willing to just tell everyone on the force, made seeing someone nearly impossible. 

Jeff interrupted his thoughts, “Jensen...I’ve told you this before...people know. Some of them do. I would ‘never’ out you or betray you by agreeing or disagreeing, but some of them know, for whatever reason...and Jensen, they’re okay with it. I haven’t heard ‘any’ shit about you, one way or another. Your reputation on the force precedes you, my friend. They won’t give you any shit over this.” 

Jensen argued softly, “Not all of them. I’m glad some of them are good about it, but there’s a huge majority that aren’t, Jeff...and they know you’re my friend. Maybe ‘that’s’ why you haven’t heard any bullshit. Anyway, I don’t wanna become some uproar center of attention around here. If they know, they know, and that’s cool...if they don’t, then let’s just keep it that way. I won’t lie if someone flat out asks me. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Jeff sighed, “Okay. It’s your call, my friend,” then he clapped his hands together, “Now...back to your date. When is this happening?” Jensen said, “Tomorrow. I’m picking him up for dinner.” Jeff was loving this, “Perfect, where are you thinking?” Jensen searched his thoughts for a few seconds, “Well, he’s not from here...doesn’t know Austin yet. I was thinking maybe Stiles or Farmhouse.” 

Jeffrey’s face turned sour, “Barbecue? What the fuck, Jensen, for a first date?” Jensen argued, “I let him pick. He wants barbecue because he’s been living in New York and he misses it...and he doesn’t wanna wear a suit because he has to do that all week.” Morgan softened, but still bitched, “Okay, but you might as well wear a fucking hefty bag, Ackles, you’re gonna get sauce all over your shirt.” 

Jensen sighed and shrugged a shoulder, “It’s the weekend, he’s tired from his asshole bosses running him ragged and he asked for something low key where we didn’t have to be stuffy.” He let his friend absorb that before he added, “I’d take him to a damn yogurt shop for dinner, if that’s what he wanted.” 

Morgan smiled knowingly, “That so,” then shook his head. Jensen was obviously smitten with this kid. “Shut up,” Jensen bitched, knowing damn well he was on display. He really should try and be more cool about this. He suddenly worried, “So, do you really think it sucks?” Jared was new to Austin and he really didn’t want to screw up any first impressions by choosing something stupid. 

Jeff quickly argued, “No...no, of course not. He wanted relaxed, that’s cool Jensen. Just try not to dump a rib on yourself. At least order something with a dry rub that’s not gonna drip all over your clumsy ass...and don’t wear white.” Jensen rolled his eyes. Jeff continued, “Now after, depending on how it goes, you need to take him out to the river...somewhere for a drink that’s on the water.” Jensen thought about it, “You mean Valhalla or something like that?” 

Jeffrey nodded, “Yes, exactly. Well, maybe that’s too stuffy, if he wants to relax. Wherever you go, get outside...reserve it. Pay extra, hell I’ll do it ‘for’ you.” Jensen looked at him in disbelief, “It’s freezing outside.” “Yes, exactly!” Jeffrey pushed him, “Picture it. Beautiful night, silent outside except for the distant music inside and the flowing river. Leaning against the railing. He’s cold. Get a little brandy in him and...” 

Jensen burst out laughing, “I’m not pushing alcohol in him so I can take advantage of him, Morgan, Jesus fucking Christ.” Jeff rolled his eyes, “I’m not talking about jumping his bones on a terrace somewhere, Jensen, I’m just sayin’...little loose from some drinks...gets cold out there...you move closer...looser inhibitions...little juices flowing...” Jensen grinned, “Maybe you should start an on line dating site.” 

Morgan sighed in frustration, “I’m trying to give you some pointers, Jensen. It’s not like you do this every day, fuck stick. When was the last time you had a date, high school?”   
Jensen giggled again, “I know, I know, and yes, it’s probably been a couple decades...but seriously, I don’t think I’ll need any help with the so called ‘juices’ flowing.” Morgan looked intrigued, “Really?” Jensen shrugged, “Not for me, anyway. He’s fucking hot as hell.” 

Jensen looked off, continuing, “And charming, and funny and nice...and he’s so damn cute when he gets this little shy thing with the dimple.” Jensen nodded, looking down, “He gets rattled, nervous...and it’s fucking hot...and his eyes...” He shrugged a shoulder, “Of course, he doesn’t realize it.” Jensen suddenly looked up at Jeffrey and realized he’d been rambling and totally entertaining the shit out of his friend. 

Jeff was studying him with a shit eating grin on his face. “Well, look at you, you dumb son of a bitch. I have ‘never’ ‘ever’ seen you like this, you lucky fucking prick.” Jensen rolled his eyes again, as Jeff pointed a finger at him, “If you screw this up, Jensen, I’ll kill you myself. He’s nice, he’s gorgeous, he’s smart...so he works for assholes, maybe that’ll change...but this,” Jeff waved at hand at his friend, “this shit is priceless. You are so fucking gone, my friend.” 

Jensen looked perturbed for a second but he knew damn well Morgan was right and he couldn’t argue. He’d never felt this way before. “Full report, Jensen, I mean it. I want facts, details...and don’t think I won’t be calling you on Sunday just to get it,” Morgan blurted out, as Jensen made for the door. He turned back, “Yeah, I know you will...and I’ll ‘think’ about answering.” 

Morgan suddenly looked concerned, “Wait, did you tell him you were Army?” Jensen suddenly looked worried, “No, why?” Jeff explained, “Well, cuz if he’s dated a Marine before, that’s just like settling down a notch. You better lie and tell him you were a jar head.” “Shut up!” Jensen barked, then grumbled “asshole” as he walked out the door. 

Jensen went for a run when he got home. It was cold and sunny, perfect for an hour of cardio out in the quiet neighborhood. He lived only four miles from Jared, in a quiet suburb with a nearby boat dock on the lake’s inlet. A few years back, Jensen bought an older Mastercraft that he kept tied to the dock there. It was good for pretty much anything he wanted to do with it. Friends came over to ski and knee board over the summer, sometimes to fish...and sometimes, Jensen just went out alone and enjoyed solitude. 

After his run, Jensen ran through his stack of mail and caught up on some banking. He’d been so busy the last few weeks, things at home had been ignored. Luckily, he paid a housekeeper and a yard service to come once a week and keep his place nice. 

This was a perfect way to start the weekend. He could already feel the layers of stress peeling away after only a few hours of being away from work. He didn’t take time off very often, so he was determined to enjoy the hell out of the next five days. 

Jensen tore open the steak salad he’d grabbed on the way home and propped up his feet with a beer in hand. He clicked on his fireplace and enjoyed some recorded shows.   
He snoozed on the couch for awhile, then woke himself with a nasally snore. The television was still running, but it was almost midnite. ‘Holy crap,’ he thought, as he forced himself to drag his ass off the couch. 

Grumbling about the mileage on his body, Jensen decided to throw a laundry load together and grab another beer. He looked outside to see a still night. No snow, no rain, but he guessed there would be the normal frost on the ground by morning. The temp’s had been in the low thirties at night lately. 

Jensen plopped on the couch with a yawn, then logged on to see if any of his normal playing buddies were available for some on line video game action. He usually played with some regulars, but it was Friday night and late, so who knew if they would respond. He waited, while sipping his beer and thinking about tomorrow’s date. 

It would be a few hours before he could get to bed. The butterflies were rampant in his mind about tomorrow’s rendezvous with Jared. The numbers expert was unique. He was like sex on a stick, but with an innocence about him. Jensen felt like a jaded and soiled old man with all the shit he’d seen and dealing with the pond scum elements of society. How would they mix? 

He thanked the video game gods for sending him a couple takers to keep his mind on something else. He didn’t care if it was one a.m. He couldn’t fucking sleep anyway. Visions of grey hazel eyes and dimples kept swimming in his mind. Jensen happily jumped into kicking ass with fake enemies and task force entries for the next few hours. 

Jared had spent his Friday morning looking for jobs. He submitted a couple resume’s, talked to some accounting firms, then filled out every application he could find on line. He knew his salary goals, so he had to be selective. He wound up applying for some pretty big corporations, but tried to stick to the state of Texas, at least. Accounting was always in demand, but the larger scope positions required extensive supplemental’s. 

He finished in the early afternoon, realizing he’d forgotten to eat. Jared had been working on caffeine and toast for several hours. He gorged himself on some leftovers, then cleaned up around the house. By late afternoon, Jared decided he had too much pent up energy to stay home, and headed for the gym. 

A normal workout routine wasn’t cutting it today. He was too nervous about his date tomorrow. Why the hell he thought this was gonna be no big deal, Jared had no idea. The anxiety about it was going to kill him, he was sure of it. 

Jared looked for an opening in one of the racquetball courts and found one. He spent the next hour burning off excess nerves before cooling down and sitting in the spa.   
Thinking he just ‘might’ be able to sleep now, Jared headed home and read for awhile before falling asleep. 

The next morning, Jensen woke leisurely, then went to the gym for some free weights. He spent an hour on arms and legs, then added some abs. After walking around a bit, he indulged himself in the rowing machine. This was the best he had felt in over three weeks. His body craved the challenges and it had been too long since he’d had the time to do this at his own pace. 

Jensen took his time stretching, then looked around the gym, casually, while letting himself cool down. He wiped the sweat off his neck and face with a towel, then headed for the disinfectant spray to clean off his bench. He casually glanced to the opposite side of the gym, curious at how busy it was on a Saturday. 

‘Holy buckets,’ Jensen thought, as he froze in his tracks. There happened to be a six foot five lean wall of muscle, currently running on a treadmill facing the window. ‘Well, so much for taking my mind off the guy,’ Jensen thought to himself, as he enjoyed a glimpse of his prospective date running at a pretty aggressive speed. 

Jared had given up. He’d slept, but not fitfully. He was too anxious about his first real date with someone in way too long. Not just any someone, but Jensen. He’d met people in the past, but something about Jensen rattled him with the need to make it right...to be perfect. Jared knew he was different. 

Exercise was Jared’s fallback. Every time he had a huge test coming up in college, this is what he would do. Every time he had big job interview, same thing. New York B&D had running groups and coordinated challenges, to which Jared would always sign up and be involved. It worked after a busy day in the finance world. Right now, he definitely needed it. 

As he ran openly, enjoying the heat, the oxygen flooding his veins, Jared had no idea he was being gently perused. His hair was bouncing to the vibrations. There was sweat pouring off him, towel hanging on the grab bar, feeling totally in the ‘zone’. 

Jensen knew the ‘zone’, guessing Jared was probably in it. He fell into it frequently, when running. He wondered how far the younger man had gone, already. Not wanting to gawk at the beautiful numbers expert, Jensen forced himself to look away and continued on into the locker room. He rinsed off in the shower, then put on a bathing suit and headed for the sauna. A little steam was going to be the perfect end to his workout. 

Jensen showered after the blessed sauna, feeling like a million bucks. His muscles were quivering and he was finally tired, but the whole experience of catching up on his workouts with nowhere to be in a hurry was an enjoyable feeling. He dressed in faded torn blue jeans and a plain maroon colored tee. He picked up his duffle and threw it over his shoulder, then grabbed his jacket off the bench and headed for the juice bar. 

Jensen loved their sandwich wraps and decided he would take his time and enjoy one. As he walked through the floor, Jensen’s eyes wandered over to the row of treadmills again and noticed Jared was on his cool down. He was walking with his hands on the bar, head down. Jensen could tell Jared was focused on slowing his heart rate. He went up to the juice bar and ordered his sandwich and a tea, then stood leaning back against the counter. 

Jensen had a perfect view of his favorite accountant, but he realized, as he looked around, that other people did too. A bit of jealousy reared it’s ugly head when Jensen saw a group of three women watching the gorgeous numbers expert and whispering to each other. He decided to quash the unwanted feelings and enjoy the fact that Jared was going out with ‘him’. 

The small group of females eyed Jared like he was a huge chocolate vibrator, completely ignoring their workout. Jensen sighed and grinned to himself. He noticed his date-to-be was clueless. ‘Of course he is,’ he smiled. Jensen watched the younger man walk around the treadmill and wipe the sweat off his neck and face with a towel. Jensen smirked at the transfixed females. He had to admit, Jared was quite the alluring site. He could do commercials for this place and increase their membership, two fold, easily. 

Jensen started to turn away from his vision and face the bar, but was stopped in his tracks by Jared unending his water bottle. He gulped it in plain view of his admirers and Jensen was no different. ‘Jesus,’ Jensen had a second’s thought of licking the sweat off the younger man’s collar bone, but he quickly cleared his throat and forced himself to turn away. ‘Fuck,’ he chastised himself. 

Jensen’s wrap arrived so he bit into it and sipped his tea. He realized his intended date may not feel that comfortable with running into him here today. It might be awkward. To know he’d been watched didn’t seem that favorable of a thought, either. Especially since Jensen had already floored Jared by breaking into his slider to check on him. 

Jensen forced himself to stay as he was for the next few minutes. He argued internally with himself, even as he turned his head, just enough to glance Jared’s way again. This time, something caught his eye, other than his gorgeous date. ‘Mother fucker,’ Jensen fumed, as he watched a mid forties aged man approach his accountant. ‘His?’ Jensen sighed. Jared wasn’t really ‘his’. 

Jensen’s inner cop sense didn’t like this guy. People used these places to pick up on other people all the time, but you normally didn’t blatantly approach someone on the damn floor...right out in the open. Poor Jared was wiping off his machine, still utterly unaware. 

Jensen sighed. He certainly didn’t want Jared to feel spied on, nor like he couldn’t handle himself, but this guy just pissed him off. He would give this a minute and see how it went, but if the guy got pushy, Jensen would have to intervene. Dave at the front desk would expect Jensen to act, anyway, if someone was being harassed. The two had been a tag team before, keeping a would be pick up artist from bothering other clients.

Angry protective instincts arose to the surface when the pushy man stood his ground behind Jared, waiting for the kid to finish cleaning his treadmill and discard the paper towel. When Jared turned around, Jensen watched him do a double take, then grab his water and towel, while listening to something the man was saying. From this far away, Jensen could still see well enough to detect the annoyed drop in Jared’s shoulders, as he reacted to something distasteful the older man said. 

The accountant shook his head and pointedly stepped around the rude bastard just to get by him. As Jared headed for the locker room, the pushy admirer followed him, which fueled Jensen’s protectiveness to start him moving that way. Jensen’s hackles rose even further, when Jared turned back once and hesitated. The older man was obviously trying again. Jared didn’t look as polite this time. 

Jared whisked into the locker room, after pointedly chewing the older man out. The first time he’d given him a polite ‘no thanks’ and stepped around him. This time Jared told him to take his disgusting ass elsewhere and leave him the fuck alone. As he hurried into the locker room, Jared was thinking of how his run had felt incredible, and now this guy was ruining his ‘high’. 

As Jared hurried into the locker room, Jensen stayed focused on his follower. He saw the man hesitate, then head for the locker room with a renewed determination. ‘Son of a bitch,’ Jared’s ‘NO’ hadn’t obviously been clear enough. Jensen hurried over there and cut the bastard off before he could get close to the door. 

Jensen put a restraining palm on the older man’s chest and pushed him back a couple feet with a command, “Not gonna happen.” The older man sputtered and tried to go around him. Jensen pushed him back again. “What’s your problem, dickwad? Get the hell out of my way,” he fumed at Jensen. The detective raised an eyebrow and feigned a smile, “Can’t take ‘no’ for an answer, huh?” 

The older man looked sideways at Jensen, not quite as confident, now that he realized someone had seen him propositioning another member, “So, what business is it of yours?” Jensen sighed. He really hadn’t wanted to run into something like this...and he ‘especially’ didn’t want to embarrass his date by having him come out of the locker room and run right into him. 

“Well,” Jensen started out more calm than he felt, “I ‘was’ minding my own business, but then I saw somebody being harassed and it just didn’t sit right with me.” The older man sighed, now realizing where Jensen was going with this. “You see,” Jensen continued, “that nice guy over there is Dave,” he pointed to the attendant at the front desk. 

The annoying man followed Jensen’s point and turned back to listen annoyingly to the rest of Jensen’s lecture. “Dave is the manager and he doesn’t take kindly to his members getting harassed. In fact, he’s canceled people’s memberships before, on the spot, for displaying just the behavior I witnessed you conducting a minute ago.” 

Jensen waited until he saw acceptance on the annoying stalker’s face. “So, I would strongly suggest you change your ways...slow your roll, so to speak. Take it somewhere far from here...and don’t even look at another member while you’re here from now on. Dave will have you on a caution list after I tell him about this and you’ll be monitored for future violations. That make sense to you?” 

The older man was seething but he sighed and rubbed his head. “Fine,” he muttered and turned to walk away. Jensen absorbed his success. ‘Good,’ there was no altercation, no raised voices, really, and no big scene. He didn’t have to whip out his badge, which was a plus. All in all, if he hurried back to the bar to finish his lunch, maybe things would be ‘a-okay’ and this could be swept under the proverbial rug. 

Jensen went to Dave and mentioned the incident. Dave put the notation on the member’s file, then thanked Jensen once again for helping him keep the gym safe and comfortable. It was a large place. Dave ran a tight ship, but he still couldn’t be everywhere. He loved Jensen’s presence and always appreciated when he reported things or helped him escort an ex-member out. 

Jensen went back to his sandwich wrap and continued to enjoy his lunch. He hoped Jared would make it out of here without actually spotting him. He also prayed Dave wouldn’t make a big deal of the situation, since he’d already guessed Jared might be a shy person. Jensen was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn’t notice when his date emerged from the locker room.

Jared felt energized. He had oxygen flowing through his veins, and his muscles were still thrumming. The six mile run was just what he’d been missing. He spent a quick ten minutes in the sauna, then took a hot shower before dressing in soft worn jeans and a plain white t-shirt. It felt amazing to have all this time to himself after the ridiculous work week he’d had. He thought he’d hit the book store after this, grab a bite to eat. 

Jared paused in his step and glanced around. Thank God the pushy stalker guy hadn’t followed him into the locker room. Jared hated unwanted attention, and dreaded having to go to the desk to report the guy if he didn’t have to. He mentally celebrated when he glanced around and saw the man on a weight machine, completely ignoring him. 

Jared headed for the front exit with his gym bag over a shoulder and his phone in his hand. Other than starving his ass off, he felt pretty damn good. When he got near the front desk, Dave stopped him with a greeting and asked him if he could speak with him. Jared came to the desk and pulled the earpiece from his ear, looking innocently confused, “Hey, what’s up?” 

Dave cleared his throat, “Jared, as manager, I just wanted to apologize for the unpleasant encounter you had with another member. I assure you I’ve noted the behavior in his file and we’ll keep an eye out so it doesn’t happen to anyone else.“ Jared’s mouth hung open for a few seconds, as his mind raced, ‘How the hell did he know about that?’ “Oh...okay,” his eyes darted a bit nervously. 

Dave could see Jared’s uncomfortableness so he further explained, “It’s okay. Another long time member witnessed it and told me. He also ran interference for you. It’s unacceptable that you were bothered and I’m terribly sorry about it.” Jared busted his ass not to turn red over this, “I didn’t think anybody saw that.” Jared glanced around, now conscientious. 

“So, who was it? Are they still here?” Jared really didn’t want to know, but he felt grateful. He really should thank the person, or at least ask Dave to do that. Dave   
suddenly looked reluctant, “Well, he asked me not to tell you.” Jared nodded, “Oh,” still uncertain about someone witnessing that humiliating proposition earlier, but grateful at the same time. 

“Well, tell him thanks for me, please. That was really nice of him...and I appreciate you taking care of it, too.” Jared started through the turnstiles, as Dave waved him off. He glanced back just as he reached the door, his eyes landing on the juice bar. It was several yards away, but Jared paused, ‘Is that?’ 

He’d never tried the place, but Dave raved about the simple healthier option menu to him all the time. He wasn’t focused on the food, however. He was damn sure the beefcake sitting with his back turned at the bar was his upcoming date for tonight. “Of course,” Jared shifted his stance with a sigh. Of course it had been Jensen that chased off his harasser. 

‘Shit,’ Jared hesitated. He desperately wanted to head over there and thank Jensen for his help, but this was awkward as hell. The cop, the protector, the charming caring individual who he’d agreed to go out with had seen Jared get hit on and come to his rescue. 

Jared’s eyes wandered over the bulging shoulders and biceps, down the tapered back. There was no gun today. He wasn’t sure if Jensen wanted to be alone, or if the man was simply giving Jared a wide berth to get the heck out of there and avoid any embarrassment. He started to leave again, but then stopped and sighed in frustration. ‘I can’t,’ Jared thought, ‘I have to at least thank him.’

Jared approached the juice bar and kept his distance as he took a stool a few feet from Jensen. The older man was still enjoying his lunch. When the girl from the stand came over, Jared ordered his own wrap and drink. He continued to sit there, as the girl walked away, wondering when Jensen would notice him. 

Jensen took a few sips of his tea, looking pretty relaxed. He rested on his elbows for a second and turned his head, casually, to face Jared’s way. The older man froze, dropped his mouth open, then tried to recover quickly. Jared grinned, now feeling much more relaxed about startling the detective this way. Jensen’s boyish reaction was adorable. 

“Hi,” Jared greeted him softly, while Jensen shook his head and sighed before he looked back. “Hey,” he smiled. Jared thought to himself how Jensen didn’t look bothered, at all, so this hadn’t been a bad decision. The man’s gorgeous green eyes crinkled up in the corners with genuine pleasure at seeing Jared. He probably just hadn’t expected him to approach. 

Jensen wiped his mouth and turned on the stool to face the younger man, trying not to let his eyes wander downward too much. Jared’s muscle definition in that t-shirt and those jeans was doing nothing to ward off Jensen’s libido. ‘Fuck, he’s gorgeous,’ Jensen’s mind wandered. The kid’s hair was still dripping, his face flushed from the recent hot shower and cardio. 

“How was your workout?” The older man asked, giddily happy to see him. Jared smiled, “Amazing, actually...it’s been awhile since I had time to run as long as I wanted. It felt good,” Jared nodded. Jensen smiled, “That’s good.” God, this kid was gorgeous. Jared’s eyes were steel grey today, catching the light from the gym’s windows and reflecting some of it back. Jensen couldn’t get enough of staring at him. Why the hell he was going out with Jensen’s salty ass, the older man had no idea. 

Jensen suddenly felt at a loss for what to say so he jumped on the first thing he thought of, “Uh...I don’t know of you’ve tried these yet, but if you’re hungry after a workout, like me, these sandwich wraps are really good here.” Jared smiled, “Good. I’m starving and I asked her for whatever you’re having.”

Jensen smiled and nodded, a little nervously now, as the girl returned with Jared’s lunch. This certainly hadn’t been the plan for today, but he was enjoying himself immensely. “So, how long have you been here?” Jared asked that while unwrapping his food. Jensen hesitated, at first. He wasn’t sure if Dave had snitched him off to Jared, or not. 

“Just under a couple hours,” Jensen responded. He went back to his sandwich, waiting for Jared to enjoy some of his. The younger man enjoyed a few bites, then took a drink and cleared his throat, “So, was it you?” Jensen looked down with a smirk, ‘busted.’ He turned to Jared with concern, “Please tell me loose lips Dave didn’t say anything. I didn’t want this to be awkward.” 

Jared looked down shyly, “No...he didn’t say it was you.” Jared glanced up at him, “I happened to see you and figured it probably was.” Jensen nodded in understanding. He tried not to stare at the kid. Jared was unnerved enough. “I’m sorry,” Jensen offered, “I didn’t want you to know and feel weird...but I also couldn’t let you be molested by that pushy son of a bitch.” 

Jared searched the older man’s face. He realized Jensen was looking everywhere but at him, trying hard to lessen his embarrassment. “Thank you,” Jared got Jensen’s attention. When the older man looked at him, Jared elaborated, “For what you did. It was nice.” Jared shrugged. He looked off and muttered, “Embarrassing as hell, though,” he added and focused back on his lunch. 

Jensen sipped his drink, while looking ahead, “You never have to put up with that shit...and you shouldn’t be embarrassed. He’s the idiot, not you. When I saw him following you into the locker room, after your second ‘no’ I had to do something.” Jared did a distasteful double take at Jensen, “He followed me? Oh.” Jared said, looked down, “I hadn’t realized that.” 

Jensen looked at him with concern, “He won’t bother you anymore.” Jared looked at Jensen with a relieved smile, “Thanks to you,” but he was still embarrassed. Jensen now wanted to go back and kick that guys’ ass. “So,” Jared tried to change the subject, “what are you doing with the rest of your day?” 

Jensen followed along, “Well...I thought about cleaning my truck.” He glanced at Jared, who nodded. Jensen continued, “You know...not just a light sweep, but actually scrubbing it inside and out.” Jensen paused. Jared chewed. “There’s this guy I wanna impress...and now that I’ve painstakingly tried to beef up my muscles, I wanna make sure he doesn’t have to ride in some dusty piece of crap.” 

Jared almost choked. He swallowed before giggling helplessly with a hand over his face. Jensen grinned. He’d caught Jared off guard, like he wanted, relaxing the mood and hearing that giggle in full force. When he saw Jared collect himself and detected a slight blush, Jensen felt bad, but not bad enough to stop enjoying his view. Jared took a drink to wash down his food, then tried to feign a casual nod, “I see.” 

Jensen asked, “So, what are your plans after this?” Jared pretended to think it over, “Well, I think I’m hitting the book store for awhile. Then I’ll probably go home and pull out everything in my closet before I decide on something to wear.” Jensen’s eyebrows shot up, “Oh? Why’s that?” Jared explained, still looking forward, “I have a date.” 

Jensen smirked and nodded, “Ah.” He turned back to his own lunch for a moment, then decided he couldn’t resist pushing this bantering a bit further, “So, is it somebody new?” Jared looked thoughtful, “Yeah,” nodding, “yeah, it’s somebody new.” Jensen pushed further, “Somebody you met on line?” Jared grinned, shaking his head and looking down at his wrap. He couldn’t believe they were doing this. 

“No,” he looked ahead and thought for a second, “no, it wasn’t on line.” Jensen waited, then took a sip of his tea, thinking Jared was done. He should have known it was coming. “He’s easy on the eyes,” Jared started, as Jensen covered his mouth quickly before partially spitting his drink into his hand. ‘Fuck,’ he thought. 

Jared continued, as if he didn’t notice Jensen’s hardship, “He’s employed, anyway...got a good job...he seems nice but I’m still learning about him.” Jensen recovered while Jared hesitated for a few seconds. “I think he has a truck,” Jared said thoughtfully, “at least I hope he does because that would be hot.” 

Jensen shook his head, grinning. He’d really met his match. Jared had spouted all this off without looking at him, like it didn’t mean a thing. “Oh,” Jensen responded, to sound supportive, “well I hope it goes well for you.” He smiled and nodded. Jared turned and smiled back at the man, “Thanks...me too.” 

Jared finished his wrap, then pushed all the debris toward the other side of the bar for the girl to pick up. Jensen combined his with Jared’s and neatly piled it for easy clean up, while Jared got off his stool and pulled his gym bag over his shoulder. “Well, I should get going,” the younger man said. Jensen stood and grabbed his own gym bag. 

“Thank you again,” Jared said. He met Jensen’s eyes and the older man‘s brain froze for a moment. Jared was beautiful, and he was looking at Jensen like he hung the moon. “Oh, uh, of course, Jared, my pleasure,” Jensen managed to fumble out. “You take care,” he added. The younger man turned to go, then hesitated a second as he turned back, “About impressing that guy you spoke of...I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure he’s interested in ‘you’, not the other stuff.” 

The young numbers genius walked away, secretly wondering when the hell he had gained such confidence. He was normally a lot shier than this. ‘Jensen,’ Jared thought. It had to be Jensen. He headed out the door and into the parking lot. Jensen realized he was still standing there, dumbfounded with a ridiculously silly look on his face. He quickly glanced around, thanking the stars no one was watching. Jensen pulled his pack over his shoulder and headed out, not quite comfortable with how easily Jared could derail him. 

Just as Jared’s car pulled out, Jensen started his own, thinking about Jared’s last words. He smiled to himself. He realized he hadn’t felt this good about something in a very long time. Jared was perfect, and he was going out with Jensen. Fuck, this was the best vacation ever.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date. :) That’s a short summary for me, but that’s what this is. First kiss. Getting there.

CHAPTER FOUR 

 

Jared didn’t date. Well, not anymore. The guys he met in New York had been transitional. They were either just getting jobs, or were on the fast track to improve their ranks and reach higher levels of importance. They were self absorbed, eager, sidetracked, and definitely in too much of a hurry. No one really had time to get to know each other and build a connection.

In the last year, Jared had taken a break. He was tired of disconnection. He didn’t want empty sex, didn’t fathom meeting people on line or going for blind dates. He just wasn’t feeling it. There was no warmth, no heat. Focusing on the career and taking this move to Texas had been great timing. There was no tie to New York. It was fun in his twenties, but he had to admit, a bit lonely. 

Jared hoped this decade brought something different. Jensen was definitely that. He felt warm...solid...established, like he knew who he was and wasn’t afraid of it. Maybe that’s why Jared was so afraid of messing this up. It was important. It was his first time out, after a long break, and it was nerve wracking to realize he didn’t know what the hell he was doing. 

‘Breathe, Jared,’ the younger man thought to himself. He prayed he could calm these nerves before his sex on a stick cop showed up. Today had been happenstance. Seeing Jensen at the gym would have normally been mortifying for Jared, but for some reason he could relax around the older man so quickly. He could be more open, say things he wouldn’t normally say. If today had been a preview of how their date was going to go, then Jared really should stop worrying. 

‘Fuck,’ Jared had no idea what looked good. He was on his fourth fucking shirt change. Why he stupidly picked messy barbecue for dinner was beyond him. ‘Stupid, Jared, just stupid,’ the younger man sighed. He stood in his undershirt, frustrated. ‘Just fucking pick one,’ he mentally bitched, then put on the navy because it was softer than the rest. At least if the restaurant was hot inside, he would still be comfortable. 

Jared combed his hair back and rubbed one light layer of hair spray on to keep it from flying all over the place. He put his watch on and took one final look at himself. He didn’t normally shave on his weekends, but he went for clean shaven tonight. 

Jared thought he had successfully calmed down, but when the doorbell rang his mind raced through all the bad dates, the unread signals, the length of time it had been since his last date. ‘Fuck’, he wasn’t good at this and Jensen was sure to be bored and disappointed. It was too hurtful to get all worked up over something that wasn’t going anywhere. 

‘Calm down,’ Jared tried to stop himself from hyperventilating. ‘This isn’t a set up, or a chance meeting in a bar, and it isn’t a date with someone you know is damn opposite from you just to be dating ‘anybody’.’ Jared looked in the mirror and took deep calming deep breaths, “Calm down, calm down, calm down,” he spoke to himself. Trying not to panic, he took a final deep breath and headed for the door.

Jensen had arrived at Jared’s gated complex fifteen minutes early. “Not cool,” he lectured himself, as he checked his watch. He was supposed to pick Jared up at 5:30, so they could beat the normal Saturday night crowds. That would give them seating choices. He made a u-turn and cruised around, checking out the rest of the complex of townhomes, stalling, and trying not to look like a first date who had arrived too damn early. 

Jensen couldn’t believe how nervous he was. Shit, he’d dealt with thousands of people in his line of work. Politicians, superiors, reporters, criminals, judges and insubordinates...why the hell was going on a date such a nerve wracking experience? ‘Maybe because you like him,’ his mind scrambled, ‘he’s nice, and he’s smart and goddamn gorgeous,’ Jensen sighed, ‘and he seems to like ‘you’, dumb ass, even though he’s too good for you.’ Jensen did ‘not’ want to fuck this up. 

He managed to cruise around until five thirty, then pulled into Jared’s driveway. He checked his watch and decided if he walked to the door slowly, it would be about five thirty four when he rang the doorbell. ‘Not bad,’ he thought to himself, praying that four minutes was fashionable enough. Jared was probably an experienced young guy with things like this. He probably had dates every damn weekend, being as gorgeous and successful as he was. Jensen just ‘knew’ he was gonna fuck this up somehow by saying or doing something stupid. 

He took a deep breath, held it and blew it out, trying to calm his nerves. He had changed his outfit three times. He’d cleaned the hell out of his truck, just to make it pristine impressive for Jared’s first time. After all, he didn’t want Jared thinking he was a slob, even though the kid had indicated earlier at lunch that he really didn’t care about that. 

Jensen had barely dabbed on after shave, not certain how much was acceptable for these kinds of situations. If they stood close, he certainly didn’t want to overwhelm the beautiful young man’s senses. Jensen reached the front door, stood there and pulled down his button down denim shirt, making sure it wasn’t crooked. He took one more deep breath and pushed the doorbell. “Here goes,” he mumbled to himself. 

When Jared opened the door, Jensen was stunned into silence. He opened his mouth for a pleasant greeting, but took a few seconds for his speech center to catch up with his stunning view. First it was the unique eyes. Jared’s steel grey beauties were still catching the light, like earlier, but they were swirling with hazel and ‘yep, there’s that green’. His gaze quickly flickered down over the broad chest and shoulders under a soft navy sweater.

‘Holy christ,’ Jensen cleared his throat and forced his attention back to Jared’s face. “Hi,” Jensen’s soft smile was accompanied by a roguish knowing twinkle in his eye. Jared was fucking beautiful, striking...like fucking sex on a stick. Jensen wondered if he would be fighting off over zealous men and women all night, who thought they might have a chance with the kid. 

Jared had done his own quick perusal. At first, he had trouble glancing away from the eyes. ‘Damn gorgeous eyes that look right through me,’ he thought. He glanced quickly down from the perfectly chiseled face, down past the bulging muscles showing through Jensen’s button up denim shirt. Jared glanced down to see Jensen’s boots, then travelled up the dark jeans and back up to meet Jensen’s eyes. ‘Damn.’ 

“Hi,” Jared’s eyes darted for a second, then he returned Jensen’s smile. His nerves were still there, but he wasn’t hyperventilating and that was a good start. “How was the book store?” Jensen’s voice broke him from his thoughts. Jared looked pleasantly surprised that Jensen remembered, and thanked God the older man was bringing up something neutral. “Oh, I,” Jared answered, “It was big. I’ll definitely spend some hours there,” he nodded. Jared smiled, but it was a nervous attempt at being polite. 

Jensen studied him for a moment, “I’m glad,” he said, but suddenly became concerned, “Jared, are you still okay about this?” Jared rushed to assure him, “Yeah, I’m okay. This is great.” He looked down, shyly, then met Jensen’s eyes, “I’m just,” Jared sighed and closed his eyes, “I just don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I’m not,” Jared sighed again, “This isn’t something I’m used to doing.” 

‘There,’ Jared thought, ‘you feel like you can be honest with him, there you go. Give the gorgeous hunk an out, if he wants to run.’ He looked down again, feeling out of his element, then offered Jensen a half smile. Jared’s eyes darted, “It’s probably stupid to be so nervous about this, right?” 

Jensen smiled at his adorable date. That confession had been brave, especially for someone who was nervous and unsure. Jensen wasn’t supposed to fall for this guy too soon, but Jared’s heartfelt openness wasn’t helping matters. The kid was alluring as hell. “Jared,” Jensen felt he had to come to the rescue, “let me share the last five hours of my day, if you will,” he waited until the beautiful grey eyes were focused on him. 

“I cleaned my truck, like I said I would, but then I scrubbed my floorboards with carpet cleaner, worried about you noticing the accidental coffee spills, even though it’s gonna be dark. I shaved, which I don’t normally do on my days off. I changed my outfit three times...I put after shave on, decided it was too strong so I washed it off, then decided I wanted it back so put it on again much lighter. I got to your house too early, so I just spent fifteen minutes driving around your neighborhood trying to kill time just to be fashionably late.” 

Jared stood motionless with his mouth hanging half open, a gradual smile forming, as Jensen finished his rendition of his day. He knew damn well Jensen was trying to help him relax. It was working. “So, don’t worry about feeling a little nervous about tonight...because if anyone doesn’t know what the hell they are doing, it’s definitely me. I’m sure you’ve been on more dates than me, I mean...as gorgeous and successful as you are, it’s...well, I’m at least grateful that you felt sorry enough for me to accept an invitation for dinner. At least I know you’re a big hearted charitable person.” 

Jared grinned and shook his head, “Stop being an idiot. That’s not true.” Jensen faked a defeated sigh, “Mmm, and now he thinks I’m an idiot. I knew it wouldn’t take long.” Jared giggled and stepped forward to put two fingers over Jensen’s mouth, “Stop.” He giggled again because the older man kept trying to speak silliness. In truth, Jensen was enjoying himself immensely. The sparkle in Jared’s eyes and that melodic giggle were mesmerizing. Fuck, he could do this forever. 

Jared finally lowered his hand, but his gaze was locked onto Jensen’s like a tractor beam. The feel of Jensen’s lips under his fingers had been intimate. They were soft and full. That hadn’t been a forethought when Jared was lost in the moment of having such a fun time, but now it was a lingering thought. He tried not to be too obvious, but he wondered what a kiss would feel like...what Jensen’s tongue would taste like. ‘Jesus,’ Jared was distracted. ‘Later,’ he chastised himself, ‘it’s too soon.’ 

Jensen was transfixed on that intense smokey grey hazel attack. He couldn’t look away for a full minute. The younger man had been quick to comfortably touch him, move in close, and Jensen couldn’t stop himself from imagining what Jared tasted like. Jared was relaxed with him, and he loved that. This was going well. He wasn’t going to screw it up by moving too fast. 

Jensen cleared his throat, “So, are you hungry?” Jared smiled softly, grateful for the change in topic, “Yes, starving.” Jensen glanced briefly at the younger man’s outfit, “You have a jacket?” Jared seemed to remember, “Oh yeah,” then grabbed a coat from the back of the couch and returned to the door. “Ready?” Jensen smiled warmly. Jared smiled in return, “Yes,” and stepped out. 

Jensen waited at the bottom of the double steps for Jared to lock his door. He walked Jared to the truck, barely placing a light hand on the younger man’s back. Jensen was a gentlemen, but was he supposed to do this with another guy? He just wasn’t sure. Jared accepted Jensen opening the door for him, then climbed into the passenger side of the truck. Jensen closed the door, then went around to his own side to get in. 

This was kind of fun, like courting, so to speak. So far so good. Jared didn’t seem to be insulted or upset that he was kind of taking the chivalrous lead. When Jensen started the truck, he looked over to see Jared watching him with an endearing smile. Jensen grinned in confusion, “What?” Jared shrugged his shoulder and looked out the front window, “That was nice, that’s all.” 

Jensen raised an eyebrow, still watching the younger man, “What was nice?” Jared turned to him, smirking, “The door thing,” then shrugged his shoulders again, “I don’t think you have to do that, but it’s cute. I’ve never had anyone do that before.” Jensen suddenly caught on, “Oh...I see.” He nodded, “Well, remember we’re working our way through this date thing together, so...so if there’s anything you don’t like, then it’s okay to let me know that, alright? I mean I’m old fashioned but I’m learning here, too, and,” Jensen suddenly looked sheepish, “I know you’re not a girl, and all, but,” 

Jared interrupted softly, “Jensen.” When the older man looked up at him, Jared encouraged him, “It’s okay. It’s sweet and I loved it. I just don’t want you to think I expect it...and I don’t want you to be butt hurt when I jump out on my own or fail to wait for you to open a door for me...I’m touched, really, but I’m not used to it...and like you said, I’m not a girl.” 

The two men grinned at each other, Jensen looking away and putting the car in gear. “I certainly hope not,” Jared heard him mumble. He giggled again, which made Jensen smile. ‘Still going good,’ he thought to himself. The drive to the restaurant was about twenty minutes. Jared asked about some of the local businesses, which routes to take where and finally about the restaurant they were going to. Jensen was glad they had idle things to talk about. It gave them both a little time to further relax before entering the restaurant. 

It was amazing how uncomfortable dinner could be with someone new. Jensen was replaying the rules of the table in his mind. ‘It’s a fucking barbecue joint,’ he mentally bitched, but that didn’t diminish his quest to use the right fork and place the napkin appropriately, dab at the right times, stand every time his date had to get up, or asking himself, ‘do I order for him, or not?’ 

The men were seated toward the back, which Jensen specifically begged the waiter for. It was lower lighting and a bit more removed from the noise. They could talk back here. Jensen also knew they would be more private, in case any onlookers who disapproved of two gay men having dinner showed up. Austin was a very modern accepting city, as compared to other Texas places, but Jensen had still run into a few homophobes. He would be damned if he was going to let anything spoil this night, especially an unpleasant prejudice asshole making rude comments. 

Dinner went fantastic. They both got tri-tip and chicken. It came with bread, beans and cole slaw, but both men dug into the main course and completely ignored their side dishes. Jared was trying hard not to look like a pig but it was the best thing he’d tasted in over ten years. “Oh my God,” the homemade sauce blew him away. 

Jensen grinned to himself, loving that he’d chosen well. Jared’s heavenly eye rolls and moans distracted him all through dinner, but Jared was definitely being ‘wow’d’. “I’m glad you like it,” Jensen offered. The younger man looked at him in disbelief, “Are you kidding? This is fucking fantastic. Jesus, Jensen, thank you for bringing me here.” 

Jensen grinned at the young man’s enthusiastic approval, “You’re welcome.” He drank the rest of his beer, then waved the waiter over to order a second one. Jared ordered another one too, then proceeded to devour more of his meal. Jensen had topped off a few minutes ago. It seemed that Jared was right behind him. He was thinking to himself how cool it was between them. They both preferred beer, and they both definitely loved barbecue. 

‘Score two,’ Jensen made a mental note of things they had in common. Then he reminded himself they both liked to keep in shape, ‘Okay, that’s three,’ Jensen corrected himself. Jared leaned against the back of his chair for a second, holding his gut. He sighed heavily. He was stuffed, but the delicious meal was still overwhelming his taste buds. “Damn,” he shook his head. 

Jared leaned forward and propped himself on his elbows to drink his beer. Jensen asked, “Done?” Jared nodded, then swallowed a sip, “Yeah I can’t eat anymore.” He looked at his plate worriedly, “Sorry I sort of left all the sides.” Jensen replied, “Me too. I’m sure they’re used to it.” He pushed both their plates aside and mirrored Jared’s position, opposite him on the table. 

Jensen held up his beer bottled and announced a toast, “To our things in common, so far, good barbecue, Texas, beer and going for a good run when we get the chance.” Jared smiled and clinked bottles with Jensen. “Sounds good to me,” he added. The two men drank to their evening. “So,” Jensen started out, “you’re a brainiac numbers expert,” to which Jared rolled his eyes, “you like the book store,” Jensen continued, “you like barbecue and beer, you like to run whenever you get the chance...what else do you like to do?” 

Jared thought about that, “Well,” he rested his chin in his hand, totally relaxed and having a good time now, “I like to ski.” Jensen perked up, “Oh really?” Jared nodded, lazily with his chin still propped up. He grinned when Jensen lifted his bottle again. “Really, you ski too?” Jared was pleasantly shocked. Jensen clicked bottles with him, “Yep,” then took a sip. 

After they swallowed, Jensen asked further, “So how much to you ski?” Jared explained, “When I left Texas, I’d only been a few times so I could barely do it. In up state New York, they always had a shortage for seasonal ski patrols, so they came around and really campaigned hard to get people to sign up. They offered lessons, so I took ‘em up on it.” 

Jared shrugged a shoulder, “I took the free training and learned how to really ski. I liked it so much, I joined the search and rescue volunteers. A few others from the offices joined so I wasn’t alone. It was an adventure, plus we got free lift tickets for working there.” 

Jensen marveled at this new bit of background, “So, did you get to rescue anyone?” Jared looked defeated, “Nah, we looked for people, but I was never on the team that found anybody. I’m not the strongest skier, even after all those lessons, so it’s probably best. We had basic first aid training but I always worried that I’d find somebody and hurt them somehow, or do something wrong. It felt good to be on the team...doing something like that and at least trying.”

Jared looked down while Jensen watched him in silence. The younger man downplayed his important on a rescue team and it was very telling. For some reason, Jared didn’t give himself as much credit as he probably could. “Have you thought about skiing since you’ve been back?” Jensen asked. Jared looked disappointed, “No, my bosses have been so unpredictable I haven’t been able to truly plan my days off. I would like to, though.” 

Jensen nodded and sipped his beer. He totally understood the perils of a job taking over your weekends, on occasion. The younger man returned the question, “How about you?” Jensen told him of the few times he’d been skiing with friends. He loved Vail and Snowbird, but always wanted to try Aspen. He ended with a loose suggestion of trying it sometime with Jared. “That would be fantastic,” Jared said eagerly. 

Jensen smiled at him. He couldn’t stop watching Jared when he spoke. His mannerisms, his voice, the movement of his mouth. Jared wasn’t just beautiful, he was exquisite. Jensen thought maybe he better suggest the next part of their evening or he was going to continue sitting here imagining his tongue in the younger man’s mouth. He would soon be sporting a raging hard on if he didn’t quit.

“Are you in the mood to walk a little bit? There’s a street market near the river. They have vendors and performers that are usually pretty good, if you’re up to it.” Jared smiled, pleasantly surprised and eager to do anything Jensen suggested, “Definitely. It sounds perfect.” 

They finished their beer and paid the check. After going outside, both men felt the icy cold bite in the air and grabbed their jackets from the truck. They put their jackets on and headed for a railed walkway nearby. Jared hadn’t noticed that Jensen tucked his firearm into the back of his waistband. Once they entered the path, Jensen explained the connecting path led to a few other restaurants and pubs, then ended with an open collection of touristy gift shops where the monthly street faire set up. 

Jared found himself completely relaxed. This was the best time he’d ever had with someone. Jensen was charming and considerate. They liked many of the same things and the walk to the event was like being next to someone he’d known all his life. They reached the market faire and saw waves of people enjoying various displays and street shows. It reminded Jared of New York, minus the six feet of frickin snow this time of year. 

“Wow,” Jared remarked. He happily looked at Jensen, “What a great idea.” Jensen smiled, but it didn’t do justice to the intensity he was feeling. Jared looked back to the event, then started forward. He had lit up like a little kid and was totally focused on checking everything out. 

Jensen went with him, but glanced down and smiled. Jared had taken his hand and was pulling him. It felt amazing and he had to fight himself to keep from grinning like an idiot over it. He was having a wonderful time. Jared happily pulled Jensen between vendors and demonstrators. They watched multiple musicians and artists. It was cold, but there were large steel tins with fires in them every so many yards, giving the crowd some blessed heat. 

It was dark now, so the street lamps were lit up, with hanging decorative strands of lights in the trees. The ‘whodunnit’ skits were interactive and fun. When they had finally gone through everything, Jensen realized it was almost nine o’clock. “What’s over there?” Jared looked deep into a long stretch of buildings, lined with lights but seemingly vacant. Jensen knew that area and it wasn’t good. 

“That’s Riley Corridor. It isn’t part of the event because the shops refuse to pay for security. They have problems in there, especially at the bar.” Jensen eyed the street, as Jared absorbed that. Jensen noted a couple juveniles grouped at one of the store entrances and a buttload of rowdy drunks goofing around in a far away parking lot, but he saw nothing too threatening at the moment. 

He looked at Jared, “It’s a common place for theft and prostitution. Drugs used to be sold right in the street, but that’s been reduced by task forces. It’s not a safe place to shop at night, especially when all the drunks get going.” Jared turned back to look again, “Oh,” sounding worried. Jensen secretly hoped his date didn’t want to go in there because he would have to spoil their perfect night by refusing...plus he would have to refuse to ‘allow’ Jared to go. 

He was sure that wouldn’t go down well to a grown man, but Jensen couldn’t protect Jared in there if he were outnumbered by a bunch of drunks. He was wearing his gun, having put it on when he put on his jacket, but he really didn’t want to have to scare his date by getting into any altercations. 

He was a cop, 24/7, but Jared and he hadn’t talked about what the meant yet and Jensen wasn’t in a hurry to lay it on the younger man. He was glad when Jared started to turn back and avoided the troublesome street. ‘Thank God,’ Jensen mentally celebrated. They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Jared sat on a hay bale and faced him. Jensen searched his eyes. He could tell the young man was still bothered by something. 

“So, how do you keep people safe? I mean, like visitors...tourists...people who go to that place to shop and have no idea what they’re walking into?” Jared looked back toward the far away street again, while Jensen watched him. “I mean, would innocent people just walk through there and...and get picked off then?” Jared was worried about perfect strangers. He was beautiful. 

“Well, yes and no,” Jensen explained. When Jared turned to him with curiosity, he continued, “We have some undercover people working the stores in there. They watch. They try to head them off at the pass, when they can.” Jared thought about that. He realized Jensen had a whole side to him he didn’t even know yet. He’d seen things Jared couldn’t even imagine, knew things, and it must have taken it’s toll, even though you couldn’t tell. 

“Oh,” the younger man responded with a nod, feeling better that something was being done, “like the gym.” Jensen smiled gently at him, “Yes. We don’t always have the bodies to assign to an area, but sometimes we can and it’s good. We can make a difference when we have the resources.” 

Jared looked hopeful, “Aren’t they there tonight? So, it would be safe?” Jensen said, “No. There’s a missing murderer who stabbed his ex-girlfriend and her child to death yesterday. Everyone on duty has been redirected to look for him right now.” Jared looked repulsed, then softened into sympathy, “That poor family, that’s terrible.” He looked down, while Jensen watched him and sighed. 

This was where it happened. Every time Jensen made friends, or had tried relationships in the past with people outside his line of work, this was where the disconnect happened. These atrocities happened every day. It wasn’t lessened in severity to police officers, but they were outnumbered. It was their business to deal with it. The crimes rattled off an officer’s tongue like movie times at a theater. 

Yes, it was terrible, Jared was right. Every single time it was violent and heart wrenching and Jensen had gone home and cried before after walking into the home of a family of stabbed children. The two year old with the little red tennis shoes had finished him for the day and he thought he would quit law enforcement forever. But Morgan talked him out of it. He reminded him of why they were doing it...and that the asshole son of a bitch who had done that to his baby deserved to be caught. So Jensen went back to work. 

Jensen’s heart twisted because he knew it would hurt like a bitch if that disconnect happened with Jared. He could easily fall for this man. Maybe it was good to get this out in the open early before it got any harder. He noticed Jared still had a hold of his hand, though. It was warm and solid, but he patiently waited while Jared either decided his job was too much to learn about, or politely told him he didn’t think this was going to work. 

Once again, the younger man derailed him, not thinking along the same lines, at all. When Jensen thought Jared had avoided his phone calls, he’d been wrong. When he thought Jared wouldn’t want to get to know him, he’d been wrong. Apparently, Jensen had been pleasantly wrong on this night, too. The younger man finally looked up, “Jensen, can we go have a drink close by? I really want to learn more about you. Is that okay?” 

Jared’s innocent expression included beautiful puppy dog eyes which went straight to Jensen’s soul. He tried to get over his internal shock that Jared was still interested and stood up. Trying not to sound to overly eager, he squeezed Jared’s hand and pulled him up, “Of course.” Jensen guided Jared with a hand on his back toward a laid back bar on the water. It was half way between where they were and back to the truck. 

Jensen would limit himself to one drink, knowing he was driving them later and responsible for Jared’s safety. The younger man could have as many drinks as he wanted. He might need them if they were going to talk about Jensen’s work. They entered the bar and used the restroom first, then headed for a deep cushioned couch on the back patio. 

The waitress started two heaters for them, which made all the difference. If you looked over the top of the couch, you could see the river silently rolling by. The moon was full tonight and it was icy cold, but no wind, thank God. They ordered 7 and 7 mixes and turned to face each other with one knee up on the couch. 

Jared spoke first, “Jensen, I’ve had the best time tonight. This whole night has been...it’s like I’ve known you all my life. I’m so glad you asked me out.” Jensen smiled, his affection for this young man showing in his eyes, “I’m glad too. I have ‘never’ just asked someone out like that. I was so afraid you’d say no...and tonight,” Jensen looked down and sighed before he looked up and continued, “I was really worried you’d hate it...or me...I guess it was important to me and that made it pretty terrifying.” 

Jared smiled at him, studying Jensen. He got the feeling the older man didn’t express his thoughts and feelings very often...especially not to a stranger. Jared was touched. “Well, thank you. I wanted this, but I was too chicken to ask first,” Jared offered. Jensen smiled, grateful to him for sharing that. 

“So,” Jared started, “can I ask questions?” Jensen grinned, “Of course. Whatever you want.” Jared pulled both his legs up and held them bent on the couch. He rested his head in his hand and looked at Jensen with a knowing grin. This was going to be fun. “Where did you grow up?” Jared started with the basics. 

Jensen told him he grew up in Dallas and graduated from Wakeland High. He had two brothers, one older who was a cop, one younger who was career military. They didn’t see each other very often but they talked all the time. Dad was a retired police captain from Dallas PD and mom was a grade school teacher. “Our mom passed away when I was ten.” 

Jared’s heart immediately poured out to older man, “I’m so sorry, Jensen.” People always said that, Jensen realized long ago, but they really didn’t mean it. It was a formality, most times, but for Jared it wasn’t. Jensen could read the sincere emotion in the younger man’s eyes and it spoke to his heart. Jared was so caring. He hurt because Jensen hurt and it was a new concept for Jensen to receive that kind of open concern from someone. It made him want to open himself more.

“I appreciate it. We’re okay now,” Jensen continued, “It was like life ended for awhile, but in time we brought each other back. Thank God for a big annoying family, you know?” Jensen smirked, “We carried on and here we are. Dad’s healthy, though he’s ageing. Between my brothers and I, we keep an eye on him. He’s still on the property we grew up on, so there’s work. Once in awhile, I take a few days to go mend fences or cut down a few trees.” 

Jared smiled softly but stayed quiet. He didn’t want to push or invade Jensen’s willingness to share about himself. When Jensen met his eyes, he looked inquisitive, then looked down with a shy smirk, “I’m not really sure how much I’m supposed to tell you.” He looked up at Jared, “Tell me when I’m boring, cuz I don’t know when to stop, here.” 

Jared argued, “You could never be boring, Jensen, this is incredible learning about you. I love it. Your family sounds wonderful.” Their drinks were put on the table, so both men moved to grab them and took a few sips before getting comfortable again. Jensen continued, “I spent four years in the Army, got a bachelor’s degree in police science. I did some MP work and decided I liked it. I didn’t re-enlist, though, because I felt like I wanted to be in some kind of law enforcement. I wanted to help people...something more close up and personal than the military. I joined the academy in Austin and I’ve been on the force ever since.” 

Jared thought about that for a second. “You love your job,” he commented. Jensen looked doubtful, at first, “Not all the time,” then nodded, “but yeah, it’s definitely my calling.” He met Jared’s eyes and shared a soft smile with him. Jared marvelled at the older man, “So, that manhunt that’s going on right now...that kind of thing isn’t new to you, is it. That stuff probably happens all the time.” 

Jensen paused for a few seconds, watching Jared’s eyes. “It happens every day...too much,” Jensen confirmed, “sometimes it feels like it’s way ahead of us, which can be pretty depressing...but then it’ll be a good day...just enough to keep us going.” Jensen smiled, still watching the younger man. 

Jared studied him for a minute, then finally replied, “If you didn’t do what you do, there would be nobody.” Jared swallowed. He looked down for a moment, then back up into Jensen’s eyes, “The officers that came to the house when my sister died stayed with my mom until my dad got home. They called the insurance and the tow company. They also called family members. I know that’s not something they’re required to do. My parents were so distraught they were completely incapable of doing anything logical and my flight was the longest in history.” 

Jared looked down again and paused. When he looked up, Jensen saw the renewed emotion in his eyes from reliving something so painful, “My point is, they saw a need and filled the hole. They even picked up my brother in law and brought him to our house. Later, they drove him to the school to grab my niece.” He sighed, “I was so angry,” Jared shook his head, “I was so angry I couldn’t see why they were just sitting there, doing nothing.”

Jared laughed mockingly at himself, “That whole time,” he shook his head, “that whole time not one of them argued with me. They let me vent...and that whole time they had been monitoring the radio and knew everyone was out searching and hellbent to find the other driver.” He looked at Jensen in wonder, even though Jensen could see the hurt behind it, “They caught her. She had three priors and was well on her way to hitting someone else before they stopped her. They put a case together that got her off the street for twenty years.” 

Jared paused, then continued, “I guess it took me a long time to realize how hard that must be...how hard it must be for you to deal with people...having to deal with so much and still come to work every day. It’s not just the bad guys you deal with, it’s the victims coming at you or laws you can’t control. It’s a noble profession, Jensen. Under appreciated, as hell.” 

Jensen felt a little overwhelmed. The young man in front of him was truly making his line of work more heroic than it was...he really didn’t want to be put on some pedestal here...he was just a cop, after all. Most people hated cops. They were always too late, unable to solve the crime, and the dumb ass officers who made horrible judgment calls ruined it for the rest of them. 

“I see what you’re doing,” Jared interrupted Jensen’s thoughts. Jensen raised an eyebrow, “Huh?” Jared smirked, “I see that look. I think you’re downplaying what you do, am I right?” Jensen sighed, looking disbelieving. Jared took pity on him and moved on, “Alright alright. Can I ask how it is being gay in that type of work? I mean it seems like such a good ‘ole boys club and I’m curious.” 

Jensen happily moved to the new subject, “Well...it is a good ‘ole boys club, yes, but it’s made ‘some’ progress. Not a lot, but I think it depends where you work. Austin is better. Some areas have major problems. For me, I only talk openly about it to five people.” 

Jared looked surprised, “Only five?” Jensen nodded, “Yes. I can trust them and they aren’t interested in judgement, plus they don’t have phobias about it.” Jared thought about that, “Wow, out of all those people, only five.” Jensen said, “Well, like I said, ‘progress’, but not a lot. There are laws and policies, protections, but it doesn’t stop the feeling between officers when they’re on the street or dealing with a situation. Most of the good ‘ole boys don’t feel safe with a gay officer and they act different. It can get somebody killed.” 

Jared now understood. He never would have thought about this. “So, you still do things with other officers, though? Like off duty?” “Oh yeah,” Jensen happily replied, “and they’re great guys. They’re fun, but I’m just not quite convinced of their comfort levels yet to lay that on them. I choose my confidante’s carefully.”

Jared nodded in understanding, “So what about your family?” Jensen sipped his drink, then answered, “My whole family knows. My brothers were actually shocked. I mean I hadn’t landed any girls through high school, then ran off to the service, so they just assumed I was introverted and shy. When I told them, I expected a lot of shit that I never got.” 

Jensen looked down to collect his thoughts for a moment. When he looked up, Jared saw the gratefulness in his eyes, “I really loved them for that. They were awesome and it meant everything. I forced myself to try a relationship with a woman for awhile before I told them because I thought I could save having to explain it to them. I thought maybe I was just messed up somehow.” 

Jensen cleared his throat, “After that miserable set up failed, I knew. I liked guys and that was it. Dad wasn’t so easy. At first, he shut me out, but gradually he came around.”   
Jensen concluded, “And now, it’s as if it never happened. They’re all perfectly supportive and waiting to see who I bring home for Thanksgiving...if ever.” Jensen smiled, Jared smiled back. 

Jensen leaned closer and touched Jared’s arm, “That’s why I understand completely how you feel about telling your parents.” Jared felt the support wash over him, but at the same time he felt the same old fear about hurting his father rise to the surface. “Jensen,” Jared closed his eyes to hide the emotion he knew they showed. “It’s okay,” he heard Jensen’s soft reassurance. 

Jared nodded, “I know...and I appreciate you, I do,” Jared looked up, “but my dad isn’t well. He worked his ass off all his life to support us and now he’s ailing and close to a wheelchair with back problems. He spent so much time with us whenever he wasn’t working and Jackie was the only one to give him a grandchild.” Jared looked down, “I’m his only son,” he admitted softly. 

Jensen’s thumb brushed back and forth on Jared’s arm, his heart going out to him. He got this. It was a personal struggle for many, and he was here for Jared, in any way he needed him to be. “Only you know when it’s right, Jared...but I truly believe it’ll be okay. You came from them, after all, so they must be incredibly good people.” Jared smiled at him, “Thank you. I hope you’re right,” he nodded, then took a deep breath. 

“Okay, so new subject,” Jared announced. “Tell me how one becomes a...detective...sergeant?” Jared formulated that as a question to make sure he had gotten Jensen’s title correct. The older man nodded with a grin, “Yep.” Jensen explained he spent the first year writing parking tickets, then he went to patrol. He rode in a squad car for eight years going call to call. After being used on multiple task forces and testing well, he was granted detective status, which changed his shift to a more flexible one with a take home car. He did undercover stings and vice, a meth task force, then busted chop shops. 

Jared stopped him, “Wait, what’s a chop shop?” Jensen explained it was an auto theft ring. They were an organized group who went out and stole multiple cars, brought them back to a warehouse and stripped them for parts. The parts were individually sold fast pieces without identification numbers on them. The groups made a ton of underground money on them and the stolen parts were untraceable. 

“Holy cow,” Jared was amazed, “I never knew that. How do you catch them?” Jensen explained they reused the plates and pieces that had VIN numbers and this eventually showed up in a chance traffic violation somewhere. Felony auto theft task forces usually took down the big rings, but there were little ones all over. Jared couldn’t believe all the stuff he didn’t know. He was learning so much tonight...and not just about his date. 

Jensen finally explained the rest of his road to being in charge. Two years ago, he was recommended for promotion so he took the test and interviewed. Now, he was in charge of a team of detectives, taught some academy classes, and found himself pulling his short hairs out with schedule problems and budgetary issues. Jensen thought it was cute how Jared was glued to every word. He was sure he’d been pretty boring. 

The older man sipped his drink again and waited for Jared’s next question. “So...is there anything else you want to know about me?” Jensen asked, then he quickly added, “Remember, I like skiing,” with a smile. Jared giggled, “Yes, I remember. So what are your other favorite things? Do you have hobbies?” 

Jensen looked thoughtful, “I like to hike sometimes...camp. If I’m with a few friends, I’ll spend the night in the woods and enjoy a fire. Not very often though.” Jared grinned, loving this. “Aaaahnnnd...get ready for the boring part,” Jensen warned. After a pause, he finally admitted, “I love to fish.” Jensen glanced at Jared quickly to gauge his reaction. Most people thought fishing was like watching golf on t.v. They couldn’t understand how anyone could find any enjoyment from it. 

Jensen waited for the ‘ewww’ he was sure was coming. Once again, he was wrong about this kid. Jared shook his head and laughed disbelievingly. This caused Jensen to raise an eyebrow in question. “What,” the older man said, “no way.” Jared’s giggle was damn intoxicating. “Dude, I grew up fishing with my dad all the time. I like it too. I mean I’m out of practice, but I’d like to fish again.” 

Jared smiled at Jensen’s obvious look of disbelief. “You’re making that up, right?” Jensen couldn’t believe this. Jared said, “No, I’m not. I really do like to fish. You can stop looking like I’m going to be repulsed, or something, ‘cuz I’m not.” Jared grinned, watching his gorgeous date process that information. 

Jared leaned in closer and whispered, “I’ve even cleaned them before,” then laughed at Jensen’s expression. Jensen smirked while he bitched in irritation, “Well, that just pisses me off. Where the fuck have you been all these years? Why’d you go and hide in New York while I’ve been fishing alone, lonely and crying in my beer wondering why I can’t meet anybody.” 

Jared laughed at Jensen’s antics. This cop was stealing his heart. Jensen was funny, caring and warm. Jared was feeling himself falling for him by the minute. Jensen couldn’t look away from the diamond wattage smile in front of him. Jared’s smile was stunning. It was infectious and beautiful, his eyes full of sparkles. He decided he would never get enough of seeing it. 

“I guess we have to thank the dickwad who stole my laptop for his matchmaking skills,” Jared said. Jensen smirked, “What a thought.” He suddenly looked at Jared with concern, “How are you doing with that, by the way?” Jared looked innocently sidetracked, “What?” Jensen elaborated, trying not to focus on how adorable Jared was, “With the attack. Are you feeling back to normal or does it still bother you?” 

“I,” Jared was thrown off and he had to think about it, “I don’t know, fine I think.” He shrugged and looked down. Jensen studied him, “It’s pretty common to feel some leftover apprehension after something like that. That’s why I ask. Sometimes when you rush right back into work, your brain puts everything on hold and hangs onto those little flashbacks to release when it feels like it.” 

Jared nodded, “Oh.” He felt a little exposed and it made him nervous. Jensen was just trying to help him, though, and that’s why Jared forced himself to try and be open. “Um,” he searched his memory, “I don’t think it bothers me. I don’t walk outside anymore looking at my phone and I stop to look around before I walk to the car...so that’s different.” 

Jensen could tell he was touching on a sensitive area, “I’m sorry, Jared. I shouldn’t have brought that up tonight.” The younger man shrugged, “It’s okay,” but he still looked uncomfortable to Jensen. “Actually, when we were in Singapore, one of the guys on our team threw my bag at me from the left. It startled me for a second and I flinched,” Jared grinned nervously, “I guess I didn’t realize why ‘til now.” 

This is why Jensen loved what he did. He hated criminals who preyed on people. Unless people worked with victims, nobody realized the permanence a crime could cause to a person’s psyche. “I wish I could have saved you from that, Jared, to be honest. I’m really glad that you’re okay...and I promise that part will get better.” 

Jensen thought for a few seconds and then went further, “Truth is, we had an officer there a few weeks before. Nothing happened and we couldn’t keep staffing it. We pulled him off. It pissed me off when I saw your bruises and knew we could have prevented it.” Jensen sighed. There, he’d gotten that out. It wasn’t right what happened to Jared. 

Jared’s beautiful eyes were filled with argument, “You know you can’t be everywhere at once. It’s not your fault that happened,” Jared suddenly grinned, “and let’s not forget you caught the little butthead.” Jensen smiled, “Yes, there is that.” 

He glanced down and realized Jared had only finished half his drink, “Would you like something different?” Jensen was concerned, but the younger man rushed to explain, “Oh no, it’s fine. I’m just...trying to be careful. Everybody tells me I’m a lightweight. It pisses me off, but it is what it is,” he confessed. 

Jensen inwardly grinned, picturing how adorable a tipsy Jared just might be. He couldn’t imagine ‘anything’ Jared could possibly do that wasn’t cute as hell. “So, can I ask what happens?” Jensen caught the younger man off guard. “Oh, I,” Jared shifted, “I don’t think...I mean I’ve been ‘told’ I’m...too honest? Touchy feely? I don’t know, really. I,” Jared shrugged, “I just didn’t wanna get silly tonight and scare you off.” 

Jensen smiled, “Well, it doesn’t sound bad to me. And it’s gonna take a lot more than an adorable tipsy accountant to scare me off, trust me.” Jared opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. Jensen’s comment threw him for a loop. ‘Adorable,’ Jared mentally cursed. ‘Fuck,’ he brushed his hair back and tried to pretend he wasn’t blushing over Jensen’s statement. 

Jensen fixated on his date, who was sporting a charming shade of crimson. Even in the dark lighting, Jensen could see it and fought not to kiss the shit out of the younger man right there in the lounge. He tried to be encouraging, “It’s okay if you want to drink around me, Jared. I would never let ‘anything’ happen to you. I’d keep you safe...and I’m driving so...” 

Jared smiled and nodded, grabbing his drink and trying to relax. This was going too well. In fact, he never wanted it to end. He wondered if Jensen would kiss him. 

Jensen could have sworn he saw Jared’s eyes flicker toward his mouth. Jared suddenly grabbed for his drink and proceeded to finish it off, while Jensen was filled with intense desire. He found himself wanting to jump into Jared’s personal space and taste him, shove his tongue deep, right here on the couch. Instead he cleared his throat, “So, what kinds of books did you get today?” 

‘Really, Jensen?’ The older man mentally sighed, but he didn’t know what else to do. It was either let loose and attack his poor date right here in the bar, or change the subject to something more neutral. Jensen chose not to molest his favorite accountant this early on. 

Jared looked caught off guard. He definitely hadn’t been thinking about the book store. He actually felt like he’d been caught...imagining that mouth on his...and in other places. “Actually, I didn’t buy anything. I was there to check out their stock and see if a certain book was on display yet.” Jensen looked thoughtful, “Oh. Did you find it?” 

Jared nodded, “Yes,” then hurried to correct himself, “I mean it was there, but they were still setting up the display so it will actually be available in a few days.” Jensen studied him. The younger man looked a little nervous. “Anything interesting?” Jensen tried to nudge Jared for more info. “Nah,” he played with his hair. A nervous trait that Jensen thought was cute. 

“Maybe you should try me,” Jensen pushed a bit more. He was transfixed on Jared’s sigh and unnerved reaction. The kid was obviously forced to admit something that he wasn’t quite sure about. “It’s uh...kind of...something...I wrote,” Jared shrugged, then glanced at Jensen nervously. He looked down shyly when the older man inched closer, “What? Wait a minute, you ‘wrote’ something? Jared, you wrote a book and you didn’t say anything?” 

Jared looked panicked now, “Well, it’s not very interesting.” Jensen begged to differ, “I doubt that. Dude, that’s awesome. So, it’s new on the market?” Jared smiled nervously at Jensen’s praise, “Yes, it’s...just recently been published.” He rushed to assure Jensen, “But it’s not what you think...not like an exciting story, or anything. I would like to write like that some day, but this was just a manual for finances.” 

Jensen nodded, impressed beyond measure, “That’s amazing!” Jared snickered, looking down. When he looked up, he still tried to deny that this was anything that special. Jensen’s look of hero worship was making him grin, however. “I wanted,” Jared started, then thought about it, “I thought there were too many people out there who...didn’t have time for college, or...maybe didn’t have the money and...you know, it was something they could use to help themselves with their businesses or even just at home. Kids starting out...that kind of thing.” 

Jared waited while the older man watched him. He seemed to be studying Jared. ‘Probably thinks I’m the most boring guy on the planet,’ Jared thought. He wasn’t sure what Jensen was thinking. Jared quickly grabbed his drink and upended it, then remember there was nothing left but ice. He was trying to shake off the sudden urge to grab Jensen and kiss him. ‘Fuck,’ the man was hot especially when he zeroed in on him with those emerald beauties. 

Jensen knew he’d been staring too long. The poor kid was too beautiful for his own good, but he didn’t need to feel pinned. He reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair out of Jared’s face and pushed it to the side. He tucked it behind Jared’s ear and busied himself with adjusting his seat while the younger man just sat there. Jensen couldn’t believe he’d just done that...thank god Jared hadn’t seem to mind. 

Jensen laid his hand back down, after adjusting Jared’s hair. It was currently laying on the back of the couch, close enough for Jared to feel Jensen’s thumb sliding back and forth on his shoulder. He wondered if Jensen knew he was doing it. Through his undershirt, sweater and jacket, Jared was hyper sensitive enough to damn well feel it and it was stirring things inside of him. 

Jared cleared his throat, “Jensen, I,” Jared closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he looked at Jensen, “I want,” Jared paused, “things.” He really needed to have some balls here. He sighed and forged ahead, “I mean I haven’t wanted...more with anybody...not like this...ever.” Jared didn’t know if that made sense, “I mean this is...this is...this feels like I’ve known you forever.” 

Jared looked down. Fuck he wasn’t good at this. Jensen studied him for a moment, doing cartwheels and screeching ‘YES’ at the top of his lungs on the inside. On the outside, he kept his cool. This beautiful creature was actually attracted to him...and he’d just confessed that he wanted more... ‘at least I ‘think’ that’s what he said,’ Jensen’s doubts tried to belay him. 

Jensen’s need for this to go further was burning a hole in his insides. He slid his free hand over Jared’s, which had been laying loose in his lap. Jensen squeezed the hand gently, then rubbed the back of it with his thumb. It was an endearing gesture, subtle but definitely a show of how much he returned Jared’s interest. “I feel that way, too,” he let the younger man know.

They studied each other for a moment, then exchanged gentle smiles, each man glad for the other’s reciprocated feelings about tonight. Jensen noticed that even with the heaters on, it was becoming increasingly cold out there, so he asked if Jared would like to get going. The younger man agreed. 

When they got to Jensen’s truck, he started the engine quickly and set the heater on high. Waiting for the air to turn warm, both men rubbed their arms and hunched over with chattering teeth. Jensen encouraged Jared to scoot to the middle so they could try and keep warm while the heater caught up. 

They intertwined their arms and hands and hung on tight until the air started to feel good. “Finally,” Jensen bitched, rubbing one of his hands up and down Jared’s arm. Jared snickered, meaning to say something funny, but he turned his face slightly and wound up face to face with Jensen. 

They froze there, realizing how close this was. Each man felt the other’s breath on their lips. Jared looked between Jensen’s mouth and his eyes, ready...yes, he was ready. Jensen placed his hand on Jared’s cheek. He searched the younger man’s eyes, while feeling the softness of his cheek. This was too close. It was perfect. 

Jensen slid his hand around to the back of Jared’s head and pulled him toward him. He touched his lips to Jared’s, taking it gentle and smooth. Jared closed his eyes, dreamily. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Their lips touched and Jared sighed into the warm softness. ‘Oh my god,’ he wasn’t sure if he could control himself. Jared wanted this. Oh, how he wanted this and it felt wonderful. 

Jensen knew this was gonna be good. He knew. His body rapidly heated up, as his lips melted into Jared’s. He tried to keep it slow, but it wasn’t easy. This should be gentle, not forceful. It should be asking, not telling. This first time, he wanted it absolutely right.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are still on their first date. It turns from tender cute moments to explicit pretty quick. This chapter will end the evening, with Jensen’s worry about the morning to come.

CHAPTER FIVE 

 

Jensen slid his lips back and forth, feeling Jared respond. This is what he’d been thinking about all night. This feeling right here. Touching that perfect mouth like this was sending tingling sensations right down to his toes. Their lips fit together perfectly. He wanted more, needed it, but instead Jensen eased back from the kiss and hovered barely an inch away. He was respectful of the first time and concerned for his counterpart’s welfare. 

Jensen slid his hand to Jared’s cheek and searched his gaze, “Are you alright?” He asked that softly, not even recognizing the tenderness in his own voice. Jared was caught in a tractor beam. His focus was glued to this man and how attracted he was to him. Jared felt open, natural, and this was the only place he wanted to be...pretty much ever. Shocked at himself, he nodded, barely...subtle, but enough to let Jensen know that ‘hell yes,’ he was alright. “God yes,” he managed to add. 

Jared didn’t know what had happened to his voice...it had gone all deep and airy. He supposed he could figure it out if he weren’t distracted. Jensen was moving in once again. ‘Oh my god,’ Jared thought, as his eyes rolled up at the feel of Jensen’s hot mouth on his. He had a second’s panic inside because he knew this might be where he lost control of himself. He didn’t want Jensen thinking he was doing this all the time, on first date’s, or with just anybody. 

Jensen slipped his hand back around Jared’s head to pull him against him. He was eager, hungry, wanting desperately to taste Jared for the first time. Jared’s body reacted on it’s own, inching closer, then his mind swept into overload fast. He felt Jensen’s tongue asking for entrance and ‘Fuck yes,’ Jared opened his mouth instantly. Both men moaned, as their heat combined. Wet hot mouths opened, tongues touched and tasted for the first time. 

Jared’s mouth was an intoxicating taste of bourbon and barbecue, with an underlying layer of molten honey. Jensen was hypnotized. Jared was delicious, better than he’d imagined. He was overtaken by sensation when the younger man first opened to him, now he couldn’t get enough. He’d never been this on fire before. Fuck, this was definitely something new.

Jared’s whisps of breath hitting Jensen’s face weren’t helping the older man keep this controlled. Excitement sparked through them both, escalating at an alarming rate. Jensen pushed harder. Jared felt electrified with renewed interest. This was passionate and hot...this wasn’t like his twenties, full of empty promises and uncertainty. This wasn’t just his body begging for release, this was what he’d been missing. 

Passion took over quickly, as each man opened their mouth wider, trying to climb into each other’s skin. Jensen could feel himself escalating to a dangerous level.  
He knew he needed to stop. They were still sitting in the running truck and this wasn’t something that he wanted Jared to remember as a first date memory. 

They pushed harder against one another, clenching their hands in each other’s hair. Jared moaned, well on his way to climb into Jensen’s skin when the older man suddenly growled and pushed his face to the side. “Fuck,” he sounded angry, still holding Jared’s hair. “Fuck, we can’t...not here,” the older man panted, desperately sucking in oxygen. Jesus, Jared was an irrestible force, and only an inch away. 

God, he wanted nothing more than to devour that mouth again and start tasting every other piece of this young man. Jensen’s other hand was wound tightly in Jared’s jacket and he was afraid to move. He was barely able to do this, hold himself in check. When the hell had he lost his senses? This beautiful kid deserved much better than a quickie in the car. 

Jensen closed his eyes and growled softly again. Frustration, and wondrous intense arousal fought against his iron clad will to be a considerate protector that Jared could trust. He smoothed his hand over the back of Jared’s head and rubbed his fingers in the soft hair a bit, softening the grip he’d had a few seconds ago. He kissed Jared’s cheek softly, then pulled away to face forward. 

Jensen moved both his hands down to take one of Jared’s between them. He hoped it was a statement of ‘I’m still here, with you,’ so he didn’t give Jared the wrong idea. He was certain it wasn’t anything to do with needing reassurance that he hadn’t just screwed up. Jensen just needed some space to control himself, that was all. 

Jared’s brain finally caught up to the situation. He had been struggling for oxygen ever since Jensen found the sense to break them apart. Jared had definitely been losing it. If it went much further, he would have come in his jeans. As it was, his dick was throbbing and begging for any touch.

Jared let go of Jensen’s head and dropped his free hand to cover the others. He squeezed in reassurance. They were definitely on the same page. He looked away and closed his eyes. Jesus, he’d never wanted anyone like this. Jensen cleared his throat, “I’ll just drive,” he mumbled, using his left hand to perform the gear shift and steer. Jensen never let go of Jared’s hands. 

Jared nodded when Jensen started driving. The older man couldn’t see him, but he didn’t know what to say. There was nothing ‘to’ say. The night had been perfect. He just hadn’t expected to overheat and throw himself at the cop so blatantly desperate. Jared was sure he could have handled that better. 

“What?” Jared turned to Jensen and asked him that softly. Jensen had said something but Jared had been lost in thought and missed it. Jensen glanced at him, concerned, “I just asked if you were okay.” Jared nodded, “I’m okay,” then turned to face forward, “I just need to stop thinking.” 

Jensen glanced at him again, then turned back to the road. He hesitated a few seconds, then continued while paying attention to the road, “I’m just...when I asked you out, I swear I didn’t plan on attacking you in the car and making this uncomfortable. Please believe that.” Jared turned to him again. If Jensen could see his face, he would know the instant disbelief that was there, “Are you blaming yourself? Seriously? Why?” 

Jensen glanced at him, “Well, I,” but Jared interrupted, “I wasn’t complaining, was I?” He looked forward again, “And I certainly wasn’t uncomfortable.” After a pause, Jared added, “That was fucking hot.” He looked down and noticed Jensen hadn’t even attempted to let go of his hand. For some reason, Jared took immense comfort in that fact. 

Something was happening here, and it wasn’t identifiable yet. Jensen stewed over it. Contemplated it. Tried to find any reasonable explanation for it. ‘It’s been over year since you had sex? It’s been over ten years since you tried a longer than three day relationship? You’re starting your mid life crisis early? Or, how about this one...Jared is the hottest, most interesting, charming and alluring fucking thing on the planet. Yeah, let’s go with that one, Ackles.’

The drive back was silent the rest of the way. They pulled up to the security gate and Jensen paused there at the number pad, looking over at Jared. “Oh,” Jared’s mind kick started, “It’s 4194,” smiling a little shyly at his date. He’d never given the older man his code. Jensen felt himself melt inside at the bashful side of his beautiful date. 

Jared began to stress with indecisiveness, as they pulled closer to his house. Would Jensen be disappointed if he ‘didn’t’ invite him in? He wanted to. Holy fuck, he wanted to. This man had set his insides in skyrocket mode, in more ways than one. 

They pulled into the driveway and Jensen pulled his hand from Jared’s to put the truck in park and turn the engine off. He set the emergency brake and sat back comfortably, keys in hand, waiting to see where they were in all this. He hadn’t done this before and his usual confidence was on break at the moment. He wanted to spend more time with Jared...definitely wanted things...erotic things that were keeping him hard while thinking about them. Jensen kept his distance in order to give his date some thinking space. 

Jared realized how damn quiet everything was with the heat and engine off at once. There was no sound, not even breathing. He realized he should be getting out of the car, or at least saying something but his mind was racing too fast, along with his heartbeat. He closed his eyes and breathed quietly. ‘I want this,’ he thought to himself. 

“So,” Jensen got Jared’s attention, “I want you to know this has been the best evening I’ve had in as long as I can remember. I’ll still think that, even if I leave right now. Walking you to the door first, of course.” Jensen smiled. Jared melted inside. He didn’t return the smile, but he was sure his grateful adoration had to be showing in his eyes. Jensen was giving him an out. A precious act of the utmost respect and considerate chivalry. Good God, was there anyone on the planet as gorgeous, sexy and utterly nice and caring? Jared really didn’t think so. 

He looked away. He decided he really didn’t want to let this man go. Hell no. If Jensen only wanted tonight, if he only wanted sex, he sure was playing it up well. Jared had been charmed before, pawed and groped. He’d had his share of horny users and empty promises, but this man didn’t fit any of those moulds. He seemed like a sure thing...and that was what Jared was longing for...

“I,” Jared cleared his throat, “I don’t think I really want to let you go just yet.” He turned to Jensen, hating his nervousness. They searched each other’s eyes for a moment. Jensen was turning cartwheels on the inside, but he was carefully controlled enough to make sure this was what Jared really wanted. “But I don’t want,” Jared looked down for a second to regather his thoughts, “I don’t want this to be one night.” 

Jared closed his eyes and turned to face forward with a sigh of frustration, “I’m terrible at this.” Jensen argued softly, “You’re not as terrible as you think.” He was pleased when the younger man turned to him and smiled. Jensen smiled back. After a moment’s pause, Jensen added, “Just so you know...I’m not a one night kind of guy.” When Jared nodded and looked down shyly, Jensen wished it were light enough to see that dimple on this side of Jared’s cheek he knew was there. 

Jared nervously played with his hair, then mumbled, “okay, well...I guess I should,” scooting toward his side of the cab, “get out.” He got out his side, then turned and shut the door. Jensen grinned to himself, wondering if he was already in love with this man, while both men walked to Jared’s front door. The younger man got out his keys and seemed to fumble a bit nervously with the lock. 

Once it was open, Jared stepped inside without looking back and opened the door wide enough for Jensen to follow him. The older man was aware of his date being a bit out of sorts. He stayed hesitant, letting Jared adjust. Jared shut the door and locked it, tossed his keys on the table, then finally turned to look at squarely at Jensen. What was he afraid of? 

Jensen’s green eyes had him pinned, only they weren’t that green anymore, they were almost black. ‘Ohjesusfuckingchrist,’ Jared panicked a bit at the instant sparks exploding in his body. ‘That,’ Jared told himself, ‘that right fucking there is what I’m afraid of,’ his mind repeated. 

Jensen stepped toward him. Jared’s insides panicked. He was instantly hard as nails and leaking, but screaming at the insanity at the same time. He exhaled the breath he’d been holding when he felt Jensen’s hands sliding around his waist. Jared locked mouth’s with the older man, not even thinking to offer the man a drink from the kitchen first. 

He responded to the aggressiveness and matched it, instantly opening with a groan at the hot wet tongue that greeted him. ‘Oh fuck,’ Jared’s mind still tried to catch up, as his body led the way. He couldn’t believe how turned on he was.

Shocked at his own behavior, Jared started to hesitate but it was quickly lost when Jensen’s growl amplified his responses. Jensen was in overdrive. The taste and feel of this man was an intoxicating force. Fuck, he knew this was too much. He was too pushy, too aggressive. ‘What happened to letting Jared take the lead, you ass?’ 

The fact that Jared was pushing back was only making it impossible for Jensen to slow his libido. Even as his mind tried to chastise him, Jensen was forcing Jared’s coat off his arms and quickly slipping his arms back around Jared’s waist. God, touching him felt good. Jared’s body felt amazingly hot and hard in his arms. 

Jensen’s hands roamed all over the kid’s back, rubbing his waist, his ribcage, and sliding up and down his back. He was getting to know the feel, absorbing it as his own territory. Jared was a gorgeous collection of long limbs and muscular definition. Jensen wasn’t even touching his skin yet and he couldn’t stop moaning. The beautiful accountant was heat, combined with beauty. He was lithe and responsive and oh so perfectly goddamned delicious. 

Jared’s mind was on overload. The scholar part of him had taken a vacation and definitely left him with unleashed need. Fierce, raw need. He craved Jensen to touch him more...everywhere. Their tongues became even more intense. Jensen finally ripped his restrictive jacket off and threw it aside without losing his suction. He couldn’t stop, nor could he slow down. Jared’s mouth was fucking incredible. 

Jensen’s hands were commandeering themselves. He quickly pulled the top button of his restrictive jeans apart and let the zipper down. He moaned at the freedom, releasing the pressure on his bursting at the seams hard on. Jensen hadn’t realized he’d been pushing Jared backward this whole time. It was enough to trap the younger man between his screaming and demanding rock hard cock and the table. For a fraction of a second, he thought he should back off a bit, not wanting to hurt Jared on the hard corner, but that considerate thought flew out the window when he felt Jared’s hands in his pants. 

“Fuck,” Jensen skyrocketed, as Jared felt his ass. He was definitely gone to logic. This was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever experienced. His accountant was a fucking sex god. Jared was rubbing his hands and kneading them over Jensen’s ass checks, pushing his crotch against Jensen’s at the same time. 

Jensen tried to open Jared’s jeans a bit gentler than he’d managed his own, but he didn’t even register whether he’d done that or not. Within seconds, Jensen found himself slipping his hands into warm soft forbidden areas, rubbing them over Jared’s perfect globes and squeezing. 

Both men groaned when their concrete hard dicks touched. They pushed together, starting an instant begging rhythm that wasn’t possible to stop. Sparks flew, as they pushed hard against each other, their underwear covered dicks rubbing. It wasn’t possible to stop and think. There wasn’t time. 

Jensen suddenly had to have this kid right fucking now. There was no more time to savor, no time to enjoy the delectable skin he was sure was under the rest of Jared’s clothing. ‘Later,’ Jensen vowed. Right now, they both needed to come. He pushed Jared over, the kid roughly landing on his back. Their weight combined wasn’t made for weak furniture, but the table stood steady. 

Jensen dropped down over the younger man, pushing down hard against him. “Aaaah,” he cried out, then began pumping at a furious pace. The rock hard cock under his was too good to resist. He’d never felt anything so good. 

“YES,” Jared cried out, pushing his hips up to meet Jensen’s. “Ohfuckinggod...yes, Jensen,” he panted. A million sparks of pleasure flew through his body as Jensen ground into him. All Jared could think was how fucking good the rock hard cock felt rubbing against his. He couldn’t even fathom he was on the dining room table. He was way too close to coming. 

Both men panted and groaned, desperately trying to taste each other with tongues thrusting, but way too close to orgasm to have any kind of coordination. Jared tightened his grip on Jensen’s shirt, “FUCK,” he cried out. “FUCK, I’M COMING...OH FUCK, JENSEN...I’M COMING!” Jensen ground his hips hard and fast. “FUCK YES, THAT’S IT, JARED,” he felt the immeasurable sparks of impending orgasm preparing to flood his system. 

Jared pushed up hard, “YES...AAAAAAHHHHH,” Jared screamed in pleasure, clenching hard and shaking, screaming out over and over at the powerful waves of ecstasy gripping him. In a red haze of passion, Jensen managed to see the beautiful accountant’s eyes roll up as he came. Jared’s flushed sweaty face in the throes of orgasm was the hottest thing he’d ever fucking seen. 

Jensen came instantly, clenching down hard, “NNNNNnnnnngh,” he gasped, then clenched again., “nnnnnnnggghhhhhfuck,” Jensen could barely catch his breath in between the spasms, “Mmmmmmmfuck,” it was so fucking good. He couldn’t believe he was so out of control. Jesus christ, the waves kept coming. He felt spurts of liquid pulsing from his dick, flooding his underwear.

‘Nice, Jensen...classy,’ his inner conscience managed to bitch, as spasms of incredible freeing pleasure continued to wash through him. He grunted and clenched, right along with his sexy date, who happened to be flattened under him and holding all of his weight. He’d fix that in a minute. Right now, the shockwaves had him in a vice, controlling his every being. 

“Nnngh,” he was still grunting. He felt Jared doing it too. They were moaning for quite some time, riding their after shocks together, useless to do anything else at the moment. Jensen was left shaking and vibrating from over stimulation. His long dead nerve endings were having a hard time accepting the endorphins that had just flooded his every being. 

He gently rubbed his fingers through Jared’s hair, unable to open his eyes but still anxious to convey any kind of reassurances he could. This wasn’t what he meant to do to the poor kid. His face was pushed into Jared’s neck. He could smell the faint scent of sweat, mixed with Jared’s soap and shampoo. The tempting skin was too much to resist, so he kissed the skin lightly, inhaling Jared’s scent. 

Jared was vibrating, finally released from his orgasm to collapse flat against the table and deal with his breathing. He was sure he’d moaned enough for both of them. Holy shit, even now, he was moaning high pitched sounds of wonder, in between trying to catch his breath. His eyes were closed. He was brain dead, not sure where he was yet, nor how something that powerful could happen.

Jared felt light kisses on his neck, then they traveled to his face, then lightly touched his lips. Jared moaned in lazy appreciation, as he still couldn’t speak. He fought to open his eyes, but all he could manage was to open his lips and blink heavily. He tried to return the kiss on his lips, but it was a lazy attempt. He seriously couldn’t do more. 

Somewhere along the way, Jared had dropped his hands from their grip on Jensen’s shirt. They were now laying flat on either side of the younger man’s head. He felt like a useless jellyfish, loving Jensen’s warmth but unable to respond to anything. Jensen kept lovingly kissing him, coaxing him back to awareness. 

Jensen rubbed the younger man’s head, gently let his left leg down that he just realized he’d been holding up, and braced his elbows on the table to hold his own weight. When he shifted his weight from poor Jared to his elbows, the numbers expert inhaled a deep breath. Jensen watched him for a minute, marveling at the gorgeous accountant in his post orgasmic haze. Jesus, this had to be his favorite look, so far. He could watch Jared forever.

Jared blinked heavily and tried valiantly to focus, but he wasn’t having much luck. He managed to lift his head, glance to the side, then looked the other way. A look of disbelief preceded his first question, “Are we on the table?” Jensen smiled, but there was concern in his eyes. He kissed him lightly again, enjoying this view very much, but guilt was gnawing at him. His mind started weighing with what he’d just done, the way he did it, and how Jared would feel about it. 

Jensen was dying to get them into the bedroom. Jared had so much to uncover, partake in and devour. He wanted to taste every inch of him, feast on it all. Jared had every damn right to kick him out, but the older man prayed that wasn’t going to happen before he could make this good for Jared. 

Jensen slipped his arms underneath Jared’s upper back and pulled him up to a sitting position. He held him upright for a moment, while Jared grabbed onto his shoulders and adjusted to being in this position. “Jesus,” he grumbled, looking at the table again like he couldn’t believe what just happened. Jensen waited until Jared looked at him, then searched his eyes. He put his hand on Jared’s cheek. 

The younger man looked a bit embarrassed, or guilty, but what the hell for Jensen couldn’t imagine. “I couldn’t control myself. That’s never happened before.” “Me neither,” Jared admitted. His eyes seemed to be darting between Jensen’s and away. ‘Uncertainty,’ Jensen observed. 

“Can we take this to the bedroom because there is so much more I wanna do with you?” Jensen’s voice was gravelly and soft. He didn’t even recognize it in himself. This man was bringing out the tenderness, something Jensen didn’t know he had in him. He didn’t even know if his dick would cooperate again so soon, but Jensen definitely wanted to give Jared a more long lasting experience. 

Jensen smoothed the unruly hair back from Jared’s face, he saw a renewed spark of something in the younger man’s eyes. Jensen wondered if Jared had been worried that was it...that he was done...if Jensen was going to just use him for a ‘one off’ and then leave. Well, Jared had another thing coming. 

When Jared nodded, Jensen gently kissed him. “Come on,” he helped him off the table and stood with his arms around Jared until the younger man steadied himself. “Jesus,” Jared mumbled, glancing back at the table. “That was fucking hot,” Jared added, sliding his hands from Jensen’s shoulders. “Damn good table,” Jensen added, smiling when the numbers genius glanced at him and smirked, then looked down shyly. They walked down the short hallway, and into the bedroom. 

Jared flicked on the light and showed Jensen where everything was in the bathroom. He set extra towels out, pulled out an extra toothbrush, then went back into the bedroom and started to undress. He seemed to be on automatic, which didn’t sit well with Jensen. He stepped over to Jared and put his hands on the younger man’s wrists, stopping his movement. 

“Hey,” he said softly. When Jared met his eyes, Jensen touched him on the cheek and rubbed his thumb back and forth, “Do you want me to stay, cuz if you’re not comfortable with this, I totally understand. I just would like the chance to redeem myself and not leave you disappointed.” 

Jared hurried to argue, “Disappointed!? Hell, I’m not disappointed, this whole night has been,” Jared cleared his throat, “too good to be true, that’s for sure.” Jared hesitated for a few seconds, then kissed Jensen. He pulled back to look in his eyes, “I want this. I’m sorry if it seems like I don’t because that is ‘not’ the case.” 

Jared looked down. When he looked back at Jensen, his eyes darted again. “I think I’m just trying to process just how ‘much’ I want it,” Jared admitted. Jensen saw a flicker of emotion, just before Jared looked down again. 

Jared knew Jensen wasn’t something he could get into and then just walk away from unscathed. If he let himself become attached, he was gonna fall hard. This is what worried him, by letting the man spend the night. Jensen could read people well, and Jared was sure he was seeing every little vulnerable ounce of him right now, dammit. Jensen said he wasn’t a one night kind of guy but Jared had heard that before. Then again, none of them had been like him. 

Jared looked back up and met Jensen’s gaze again. The older man kept rubbing his thumb against Jared’s cheek and it was distracting. He finally spoke, after studying Jared for a few extra seconds and thinking things over, “There is nothing I’ve ever done, and no one I’ve ever met, that compares to you, Jared. This came outta left field and I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but I am ‘not’ gonna let this get away before I figure out how far it can go. I really hope that’s okay with you.” 

Jensen kissed him softly, then looked into Jared’s eyes. “God, you’re fucking gorgeous,” Jensen said, then devoured Jared’s mouth once again. Jared kissed him back, aggressive and passionate. He couldn’t believe how his body responded to this man. It was automatic. His hands slid up and around the back of Jensen’s head and pulled him toward him. 

Jensen’s arms went around Jared’s waist to pull him firm against him. They kissed hungrily, once again engulfed in delicious heat. After a few minutes, Jared broke off, panting to the side of Jensen’s cheek, “Jesus christ, I can’t fucking believe this,” he struggled to comprehend how his body was heating up again this soon. Jensen started kissing his neck, then behind his ear, “I’m four years older, and I can’t believe it either.” 

Jared exhaled, his eyes rolling up at Jensen’s mouth touching him in those places. “Oh,” Jared’s moaning response was fueling Jensen on. “Mmmm,” he moaned in returned, then kissed his way back to Jared’s mouth. He devoured Jared’s mouth once again, hungrily opening him up to taste every delectable part he could reach. He moved his tongue around, feeling and tasting, then finally pulled back to kiss him twice quickly before taking Jared’s arms in his hands. 

“Can I get you in that bed now?” Jensen asked, still kissing Jared with little pecks on his cheek. “Definitely,” the younger man responded, backing up while pulling Jensen by his arms. Jared’s bed was huge. It was plush and wide, with plenty of pillows. The younger man had spared no expense in bedding and comfort. Jensen was glad, for they were two guys who needed a lot of room, and this was going to be perfect. 

The back of Jared’s knees hit the bed and he sat, then scooted back. Jensen crawled over him, following until they ended up with Jared laying against the mound of pillows. Jensen kissed him again, Jared’s head easing back into the plush pillows while his mouth was deliciously inspected. He touched Jensen everywhere, feeling the muscle and sinew that was underneath his shirts. God, Jensen was sexy. 

Jensen pulled back to sit up with his knees on either side of Jared’s hips. He pulled his denim shirt off in one motion, not bothering with the buttons. Next he pulled the undershirt off. Jared sat up, his eyes glued to the gorgeous body in front of him. “God, Jensen, you’re so beautiful,” Jared whispered in awe, then put his hands on the cop’s hot skin. 

Jared tasted him, kissing and licking, indulging himself, while he moved his hands all over the older man’s chest. He felt Jensen’s fingers slide into his hair and lovingly play with it. Jensen closed his eyes and threw his head back. “Mmmm,” his moans and emotional exhales were openly telling of how much he craved to be touched like this. The pleasure of Jared’s touch was tantalizing his every nerve ending.

Jared slid his hands all around Jensen’s chest and shoulders, feeling the incredible muscular form. He smoothed his hands down his arms and back up again. He tasted the skin around Jensen’s collarbone, licking the light salt leftover from that encounter earlier. Jensen was hot, and hard. He was perfectly sculpted all over. Jared knew this man had to do more than just run every day and pick up a few weights. This kind of body took constant work. 

Jared licked his way up the older man’s neck. Jensen’s fingers tightened in his hair when Jared sucked on a particular spot behind his ear. He moaned loudly and Jared loved the response. He spoke into Jensen’s ear, “You taste fucking amazing.” Jensen rubbed his hands more aggressively, around Jared’s shoulders and his back. He suddenly reached down and pulled the sweater over Jared’s head, getting rid of the thing. The t-shirt went next. 

Jared shook his hair back and smiled softly. Jensen fought not to lose it and come right there at the incredibly sexy move. He was sure the younger man had no idea how hot it was when he did that. Jensen eased Jared back to lay against the pillows. He took a minute to appreciate the steel grey beauties that were focused on him. Jared’s hair was sprawled out beside his flushed face, his lips were wet and swollen. He looked like a fucking greek god like this.

Jensen slid his hands over Jared’s beautiful wide chest. There were baby fine dark hairs, in between all that smoothness. He slid his hands down further, rubbing them over the six pack abs and flat stomach. God, Jared was absolutely gorgeous. The younger man was undulating his body, lithely like a cat being petted.

Jensen kept going, sliding his hands down to Jared’s waistband, gently easing the denim apart. It was still wet there. Jensen could smell the come from earlier. He opened the loose flaps and pushed downward. Jared lifted his hips and Jensen pulled them all the way down. He scooted back enough to work Jared’s jeans off completely, then tossed them aside. He ran his hands from Jared’s ankles up his legs, over his hip bones and all the way back up Jared’s torso.

“God, you’re so beautiful everywhere,” Jensen said, as he took another moment to feel the sculpted chest and shoulders. He laid himself over Jared’s body, feeling the incredible sensation of the warm smooth body under his. They kissed again, deep, hot and passionate. The difference of having skin on skin was heightening the pleasure. 

Jensen moved down Jared’s body, the younger man distracted by his hot wet mouth sucking and licking on the way down. He stopped at Jared’s nipples, testing out their sensitivity. When Jensen received the loud moans of approval he was hoping for, he sucked harder. “Oooh,” Jared grabbed the back of his head, kneading and playing with the short hairs there. “Jensen,” he sounded desperate, and that was just where Jensen wanted him. 

He moved further, licked down Jared’s stomach, across the ab muscles, feeling them tense and vibrate. Jared was responsive, fully engaged and moaning in rapture at being devoured. Jensen hooked his fingers under the band of Jared’s underwear and pulled them down, kissing the tender skin at Jared’s hairline. 

The come was everywhere, some of it had thickened, a little had dried already, and a load of it was stuck to the younger man’s underwear. Jensen pulled them down Jared’s long legs and off. He tossed them aside and returned to his buffet. Jensen looked at his date, who had obviously enjoyed this very much, so far, if the renewed hard on was any indication. 

Jensen couldn’t believe it. Jared’s dick was beautiful, and just as sculpted as the rest of him. Fuck, he would be enjoying that in a minute. Right now, Jensen drank his fill. That ‘Tall Drink of Water’ song was definitely about Jared. His eyes traveled from the beautiful accountant’s striking hazel grey eyes, down past his perfect swollen lips. 

His gaze moved down the long neck, leading to that collarbone that Jensen wanted to nibble on, and definitely would, then down to the pecs and tight nipples. Jared’s chest was rising and falling at a rapid rate. Jensen’s piercing emerald assessment of him was full of heat and promise. ‘Jesus,’ Jared’s libido went back into overdrive.

Jensen finished his perusal of his delectable accountant, then lowered his body over him again. He kissed him, then seductively scooted down to line up his mouth with Jared’s cock. “Jesus, Jared, do you have to be perfect everywhere?” Jensen groaned that comment then licked a swipe before Jared could even exclaim any argument. “Wha..ooohhhh,” was all that came out of Jared’s mouth. “Oooh,” he loudly groaned again, then again, as Jensen’s tongue did wonderful things to him. 

Jared’s mind was again derailed as his body’s senses took over. All he could do was feel. “Ohmygod,” he cried out, as Jensen continued to lick and taste, up and down his dick and all around it. Jared had gotten blow jobs before but not like this. Jensen was devouring him, fucking owning him. He licked down to his perineum and sucked. 

“Aaaah,” Jared cried out in ecstasy. This was new. Sparks flew through his body and his dick got even harder. “Ohmygod,” Jared’s voice became loud, reaching higher pitches. The pleasure was unimaginable. Jensen’s tongue flicked back and forth, sending sparks of electricity from the secret patch of skin right to his dick. He licked up to his balls, which were churning and filling again. He took time to suck each one of them, gently, swirling his tongue around to stimulate even further. 

Jensen had flicked his eyes up more than once at hearing the reactions. He caught the opened mouthed wondrous looks, Jared’s closed eyes and his hands gripping the pillows. This was good. Jared was his. Jared was hotter than fuck, but like this, he was even more so. He’d never wanted anything so bad as he did to throw Jared over the edge. He wanted to suck him to oblivion. 

“Jare,” Jensen called to him, having moved up over him again without Jared even realizing it. ‘Fuck, was that a nickname he just gave me?’ Jared wasn’t even sure. He was so turned on, he didn’t care. “Do you have lube? Supplies?” Jensen kept kissing him, on the lips and around his face, waiting until he finally realized the question, “M...yeah s’...over there,” Jared looked over and pointed toward the nightstand, restlessly desperate for more of anything Jensen wanted to do. 

Jensen reached over and stretched enough to open the nightstand drawer. There inside was a bottle of lube and some condoms. He didn’t want to assume Jared would want to go that far, but if he did, Jensen would use one. He retrieved the supplies and moved back to cover the deliciously hot body under him. “Mmmmm...I missed you,” he commented then kissed the hell out of his date. Jesus, the kid still tasted like honey, no matter how many times Jensen did this. 

Jared moaned, undulating, rubbing his hands all over Jensen’s back, kneading the muscles. His legs came up, of their own accord, and he rubbed his knees against Jensen’s hips. “Mmmmm,” Jared tried to breathe, “You’ve got your pants on, officer,” he complained, still kissing Jensen while trying to catch his breath. 

“Mmmm,”Jensen responded, “Think you’re right about that.” He pulled himself away enough to work the jeans down, at least a foot. He kissed Jared again, then smirked at the ‘officer’ remark while lifting up to work the pants further down to his shins. Jensen laid on top of Jared, then used his feet to pushed the damn restrictive denim the rest of the way off. Fuck, he was finally free. 

Jensen looked hard into Jared’s eyes, watching him for signs of any doubts or fear. Even though they were both turned on beyond belief and Jared close to needing release again, Jensen had to get this right. He wanted no fuck ups and Jared was important to him. “Tell me what you want tonight. What’s not okay? It’s so important to me to get this perfect. I’ll do anything you want...and I’ll stop anything you don’t want.” 

The younger man looked at Jensen with adoration and wonder. He thought maybe he just fell in love. Jensen was the most caring person he’d ever been with...he was putting him first, concerned...worried...caring... ‘beautiful,’ Jared’s mind added. He realized he didn’t feel any limits with Jensen. He trusted him. He would never hurt him, nor would he use him or push him to do anything he sensed Jared wouldn’t like. 

“I trust you,” Jared whispered. “It’s okay,” he kissed the older man, “to do anything,” he added. Jensen’s dick got harder, but he wasn’t completely convinced yet, “Believe me, I’d love to get my dick up inside you but not if it’s,” “Jensen,” Jared interrupted. He held Jensen’s head firm between his hands, “Trust me,” Jared implored, meeting Jensen’s stare, “It’s not just okay, it’s what I want.” 

After that sunk in, Jensen kissed him deep. The anticipation of that tight hot channel squeezing his dick was overwhelming. Jensen broke his mouth away, worked his way down and ended up back at Jared’s engorged cock. “Jensen? God Jensen I’m not gonna be able to come if you do that,” Jared panted, “oh god, you don’t have to, aaaaah,” he threw his head back, pushing his hips up to meet the ecstatic feeling of the hot wet mouth that covered his dick. 

Jensen sucked and slid his mouth down and back up, forcing loud moans of exquisite ecstasy out of his beautiful accounting expert. Jared was writhing and pushing his hips up to fuck Jensen’s mouth. He’d lost all thought. Jesus christ, it felt good. Nothing mattered but pushing up and pushing up, sliding into that hot wet cavern harder and faster. 

Jared’s cries were building, his unsurmountable pleasure increasing with every thrust. Jensen let him control the speed. It was a challenge, keeping his mouth going and continuing the suction while Jared was allowed to move, but kid’s sounds of pleasure were fueling his determination. 

Jensen grabbed the lube quickly, saturating one of his fingers. He held down one of Jared’s hips, lessening the force of his thrusts so he could get a finger inside and give him more stimulation. 

Jared grabbed at the pillows, twisting them tight with the force of his impending orgasm. He kept climbing that ladder, escalating closer, having no idea what Jensen was up to. Jensen never stopped his rhythm, matching Jared’s, determined to give the man skyrocketing pleasure. He quickly pushed Jared’s legs up, coaxing them to bend and open Jared to him. 

He slid his lubed finger along Jared’s crack until he felt the slight give of the hole. “Mmmgod,” Jared was on fire. Jensen pushed in just a bit and circled the ring. “Nnnnmygod ‘m coming...I’m coming....oh fuck, Jensen, I’m coming.” Jensen pushed harder, sliding just inside the ring. He pumped his finger to the first knuckle and back, faster, driving Jared wild. “FUCK!” “OH FUCK, JENSEN, YES!” 

Jared tightened up and screamed, “Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh,” coming as hard as he had earlier. He strained and shook, screaming through the overbearing waves of intense ecstasy. Jensen swallowed him down, drinking his first serving of the salty hot fluid pulsing from Jared’s dick. The younger man spasmed, cried out and strained with the force of his orgasm until it finally released him. 

Jensen wasn’t sure he would make it to the next level before losing his load on Jared’s bedspread. The kid was so fucking responsive and stunning when he came. Jensen definitely wanted to do this again...and again and again. He gentled him through his pleasurable aftershocks, moaning at the way Jared sprawled helpless back on the bed, moaning in wonder. Jared figured his dick had to be broken after this. He knew is brain definitely was. Jensen had killed him. No one could come that hard twice and survive.

Jensen gently let the gorgeous cock slide out of his mouth. He kissed it, then lifted up to inspect his handiwork. ‘God, just look at him,’ Jensen marveled at Jared. The younger man was sprawled in abandon, whimpering and panting in between desperately trying to catch his breath. His eyes were glued shut. He had a light sheen on his forehead and his hands were still clenched in the pillows. 

Jensen smiled a tender smile of adoration, feeling loads of overwhelming affection for this kid. God, he was beautiful. The post orgasmic all over flush was matched with a look of wondrous dreamy ecstasy on Jared’s face. Jensen moved over Jared and stretched his body over him again, resting his weight on his elbows. He kissed the beautiful face, his cheeks, his forehead, then kissed his neck and repeated the paths. 

Jared was drowning in a sea of post orgasmic pleasure, unable to find a life raft at the moment. He felt the kisses, knew Jensen was with him from the heat covering his body, but getting his brain to turn back on seemed to be taking some time. Dammit, he hated to feel useless here, but Jensen had blown all his circuits.

Jared finally forced his eyes open to realize Jensen was watching him, and smiling. He lifted his head, then dropped it back, eliciting a frustrating sound of embarrassment. “Fuck I can’t move,” he exclaimed. Jensen kissed him, snickering. A post orgasmic Jared was adorably sexy. Jensen kissed him again, then raised back on his haunches while sliding his hands down Jared’s torso. 

He smoothed his hands over Jared’s abs, then over his hip bones, down his legs and back. The younger man’s body was a work of art. Jensen pushed Jared’s legs gently to bend upward again, opening him up for him. Jared lazily complied. He was watching Jensen, still laying partially listless but definitely more focused. Jensen had trouble looking away from the hypnotic steel grey beauties. 

“Tell me to stop,” the older man told him, watching Jared as he applied more lube to his fingers and braced himself. He paused with his fingers at Jared’s opening, watching him. Jared’s affectionate gaze was pretty much Jensen’s undoing. He’d never been looked at like that before. Not only were Jared’s eyes ever changing hazel grey beauties that held him in a tractor beam, right now they were filled with adoring tenderness. 

He rubbed Jared’s hole, watching the kid’s eyes blink dreamily, while his body moved lithely from the sensation. Jensen pushed in carefully, pumping his finger, much the same as he’d done a few moments before. Jared moaned, his body responding, even though he’d been unable to move just a few seconds ago. 

Jensen leaned over further, still watching Jared closely, “Tell me to stop...any time, and I’ll do it.” He pushed his finger further and kept pumping, while the beautiful dreamy kid grinned and shook his head, “Mm-mm.” ‘Jesus,’ Jensen almost came right there. Jared was so fucking cute, but hot and responsive as hell. He added a second finger.   
Pushing two fingers in was a different story. God, the kid was tight. 

“Jesus you’re tight,” Jensen moaned, as he pushed in and out of the restrictive channel. He went slow. Jared’s reaction was killing his self control. The numbers expert was pushing back against his fingers, moaning and pumping his hips. “Ah God, Jensen,” Jared’s increased breathing and renewed grip on the bedding was quite the sight. 

Jensen knew he was leaking like a fountain. His dick wasn’t going to last ten seconds when he pushed up inside of that tight slippery heat. He maintained the rhythm for a few minutes, enjoying the tight wet heat on his fingers while watching Jared’s reaction. When he felt the young man was adjusted, Jensen started to add his third finger. 

“Oh,”Jared’s startled stopped him. Jensen held still and waited while Jared breathed through the new invasion. It felt like his fingers were in a vice. They were a third of the way in, but unable to move. Jared grabbed his knees, pulled them up higher and held himself open more. Jensen tried to think of anything but coming. 

“Keep going,” Jared told him, trying to catch his breath. Jensen was concerned, “You sure?” This seemed to be hurting Jared. “No,” Jared argued, “no it’s incredible...it’s just been a long time...reeeaaalllly long time, please don’t stop.” Jensen slowly pushed in, then took his time pumping in and out until he finally got his fingers all the way settled. He twisted them around, gentle and slow, barely scissoring until he felt Jared’s channel accepting the pressure. 

Jared was moaning and moving his hips, reacting to the pleasure of being filled like this. Something about the way Jensen was doing this, the way it made him feel, was adding to the pleasure. God, it had been so long since he’d wanted this...and it had never felt this good before. He hadn’t thought he could come again tonight, but suddenly he wasn’t so sure. 

Jensen curled his fingertips, just a bit, as he pulled out and felt the magic nub of nerve endings there. Curious, he barely touched it. Jared vibrated, literally spasmed for him, when he grazed it. “Mmmm,” Jensen growled in approval. “You think you can come again?” Jensen asked him that while kissing his abdomen, then slid he the pads of his fingers right over the spot and rubbed in tiny circles. “Aah...aaah...aah,” Jared cries of abandon as he rubbed the sensitive gland were the end of Jensen’s rope. Christ, this guy was too fucking hot for his own good.

Jared was losing his clarity. The sparks of electric pleasure were shooting through his body from Jensen’s fingers working his prostate. No one had ever spent time doing this before. He thought for sure he couldn’t come, but ‘hell yeah’ his body was rising to that crest again. God, Jensen was going to kill him. His body moved on it’s own, fucking back against the fingers and starting the climb to release. 

Jensen barked, “Fuck, Jared, you’re gonna make me come from watching you like this.” He pulled his fingers from their haven and tore open the condom packet. He slipped the cover on, having to breathe through it in order not to come. Jesus, Jared was too much. Jensen squirt extra lube on himself and spread it over the tip carefully.

Jensen made the mistake of glancing at Jared’s hole. It was glistening wet and slightly swollen from being recently stretched. His dick was going in there and it damn well knew it. Jensen had to pause and grab the base of his dick, taking deep breaths. There were pools of precome already in the little reservoir. 

Jared was going to be the death of him, Jensen knew it. Shit, he wasn’t even sure he could get hard again this fast in one night but damn if Jared hadn’t taken care of that one. Apparently he could, with the right person. Jensen braced his weight on one hand and lined up his cock. He met Jared’s eyes, touching the tip to the opening of Jared’s incredibly tight hole. 

Jensen pushed. He stared into Jared’s eyes as he felt the unimaginable tight ring try to keep him out. “Mmmm, jesus,” Jensen’s face showed the strain, as he kept pushing. Fuck, it was tight. His instinct was to shove in deep and fuck hard, but he would never hurt Jared that way. He stopped to breathe, and tried his hardest to keep from coming, while Jared breathed through the fullness. 

“Is it hurting?” Jensen managed to grumble out, in between breaths. Jared tried to catch his own breath, “No, but it’s big. Jesus, what are you sporting down there?” Jensen would have laughed if he hadn’t been struggling for control. The younger man added, “Keep going.” 

Jensen pushed in further, pausing every inch to give Jared’s body time to adjust. He thought he might pass out, just from holding back. Finally...fucking finally, he got his concrete hard dick three quarters of the way in. Jared started to relax more. Jensen couldn’t because the heat was squeezing his dick like a tantalizing vice. 

“Fuck, you’re tight,” he commented. When Jensen lowered his body over Jared’s, the younger man wrapped his arms around his shoulders and gripped him between his knees. Jared kissed him, then pulled on Jensen’s lower lip with his teeth, “Fuck me.” Jensen moaned, “God yes.” 

He pulled back slightly and pushed, “Aaah,” they both groaned in startled sensation. Jensen moved again and they both cried out. He started pumping, smooth and steady. “Mm...oh fuck, Jared,” Jensen didn’t know if he could stop. The uphill climb to orgasm was already well on it’s way. “God,” he kept pumping and kissing Jared, their tongues finding their own rhythm. 

Suddenly, Jared’s body decided to give more and Jensen found himself able to push deeper. “Oh god,” he pushed his forehead into Jared’s neck and fucked himself deeper. “Ohmygod,” His orgasm was imminent. Dammit, he didn’t wanna come without Jared. He slowed his own thrusts, trying desperately to stave himself off. He moved his hand down to Jared’s dick and pumped it. 

Jared’s cries became louder. His mouth hung open and he desperately pushed his hips up to meet Jensen’s thrusts. Jensen adjusted himself, fucking right into Jared’s prostate, making him scream. He sped up, fucking Jared harder and faster. 

Jared was escalating, clenching Jensen’s shoulders from the overwhelming pressure building. His mind was in disbelief. This had never happened in his life. Jared had never come three times and seldom had twice. What was happening? Jensen was forcing him there again. 

“Come for me,” Jensen commanded. When Jared cried out, practically in a sob, Jensen pistoned his hips harder, “Come on...I’ve got you, Jared, let it go.” Jared cried out once more, threw his head back and came, “Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.” Jensen pistoned his hips hard, then threw his head back and came with one last hard jerk, “Uuuuuuuuugghhhhh.” 

God, the power of his orgasm was overwhelming. He jerked with gruff screams several times, spasming into Jared’s ass, abandoned to the immeasurable amounts of pleasure flooding his system. Jared was spasming under him, crying out every time Jensen jerked against his prostate. The older man tucked his face into Jared’s neck to ride out the after shocks. 

Jensen really didn’t know how long it had been...and he was damn sure Jared wasn’t going to be responsive any time soon. “Jesuschrist,” he lifed himself on jelly filled arms and tried to ease off his beautiful date without waking him. Jensen looked around sluggishly until his eyes landed on the red digitized numbers of Jared’s bedside alarm.   
Apparently, he’d passed out after coming that hard around thirty minutes ago. That explained why it was so goddamned cold. Jensen’s backside was freezing. He maneuvered some of the covers around his bedmate, pulled the condom off and tied it, then searched for a garbage. 

Jensen used the bathroom and cleaned up a bit, brushed his teeth and washed his hands. He had to admit, he was barely functioning. Thank god they didn’t have to work tomorrow. He dragged himself back to the bed and slipped under the thick bedding with Jared, having a momentary unsettled thought about how close he should get. 

Jared was irresistible, his hair in disarray and covering part of his face. He was out light a light, facing Jensen at the moment. Jensen turned on his left side and settled into the pillow where he could watch him for a few minutes. He wondered how Jared would feel about this tomorrow? How the hell would Jensen be able to just walk away if Jared didn’t want this to go on? Fuck, there was no way. He wanted this amazing man to himself.


	6. CHAPTER SIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date isn’t over yet...these two become closer and find they have an unexplained beautiful rhythm together. This chapter is sweet and fluffy, sexy and fun. Jensen shares his concerns about Murray and Barron, then finds he’s feeling more than just casual about his new favorite accounting expert. The feelings are mutual.

CHAPTER SIX

Jensen sat up sluggishly and tried to make out where the hell he was. This was definitely ‘not’ his bed...and not his house. He rubbed his hands over his face, then over his head. His brain was fighting him...definitely not happy about having to come back on line. He hadn’t slept this good in ages. 

Jensen scrolled through the previous night and wound up with thoughts of coming so hard his dick was surely broken. ‘Twice,’ Jensen reminded himself, ‘You came twice.’ “Jesus,” Jensen grumbled, laying back down and turning his head. The bed was empty. The young man who had broken his dick wasn’t there. 

Jensen looked at his watch and noted it was nine thirty, then contemplated what this morning might have in store. He sluggishly dragged his ass out of bed and stretched, then grabbed all the sheets and covers off the bed. The least he could do after he showered is find Jared’s washer and get the bed clean for him. 

Jensen thought he heard some faint kitchen noises, like plates sitting on a counter and a pan being moved around. He stood still and sighed. Was he just busying himself to keep from going out there? What was he afraid of? He grabbed his jeans and t-shirt from the night before and headed for the shower. He didn’t even bother with his underwear, knowing it was a goopy mess. He would throw it in the wash with the bedding.

Jensen used the towels Jared had laid out for him and took a long hot shower. Jared had offered for him to use anything he needed the night before. The younger man’s rich outdoorsy gel soap smelled wonderful. He dried his hair with a towel and didn’t bother to comb it, then he used an extra toothbrush in a package left by the sink. 

After he applied some of Jared’s deodorant, Jensen walked down the hall with the pile of bedding and two pair of come stained underwear in his hands. He spotted a washer and dryer halfway down the hall and stuffed everything in. Jensen added soap and set the machine, then continued his way to the kitchen. 

He looked around, but didn’t see Jared. What he did see was a spread of what looked like pancakes with little chocolate chips in them, some creamy sauce in a little pouring cup, hot coffee in a small pot and when he lifted a secret lid, some scrambled eggs with cheese on top. ‘So much for being kicked out,’ Jensen slowly smiled. 

He went for the coffee first. At first sip, he dreamily closed his eyes, “Aaahh,” knowing damn well Jared had poured some espresso shots in there. He sipped some of the holy liquid, then looked around for his beautiful date. The fireplace was on, bringing warmth into the chilly room. Jared’s ceilings were vaulted, which probably stole some of the heat. 

Jensen headed for the back slider, noticing a tiny bit of a breeze blowing the curtain inward. He pulled the curtain back and sure enough the slider was open a few inches. There was his gorgeous numbers expert in the small back yard. Jensen was treated to long legs covered in soft torn faded denim jeans, which were bending and stooping at the moment. ‘Damn,’ the man was built. 

Jared had on a long sleeve grey cotton shirt, which also looked soft and worn. There was a white t-shirt peeking out from underneath. He had on some kind of slip on leather loafers with holes in them. He was the picture of comfort. Jensen knew it was colder than hell out there, so at first, he couldn’t imagine what the kid was doing. 

Jared stood and put some items back into a chest, then Jensen could see two sets of bowls on the ground, filled with food. The younger man picked up a larger bowl and poured out the water, then refilled it with fresh water. Jared stood back with his arms folded and waited, while Jensen sipped his coffee and watched. 

After a few seconds, Jared’s little guests came running. ‘I’ll be damned,’ Jensen thought as he watched two mother cats and four little kittens come hurriedly to the bowls. They dug into the food and Jared praised them. Jensen had to smile. This was cute. His accountant was cute as hell. 

He walked over to the kitchen and refilled his coffee cup. When he heard Jared coming back in, he filled the other used cup for him and carried them both to the table. “Oh..hi,” Jensen looked up when he heard Jared’s greeting. The kid looked like he came straight out of a magazine. ‘Fucking hot,’ Jensen’s mind commented. He smiled his own “Hey,” then sat down casually to watch Jared longer. 

The younger man was nervous, that was for sure, but beautiful and charming as hell. When Jared sat, he winced then shifted his weight to the side. Jensen noticed it, but he didn’t say anything. Guilt at pounding the poor kid on the first date knocked at his conscience. “So, how’d you sleep?” Jensen decided to lead into something neutral. 

Jared seemed grateful, “Really good. Better than usual, actually.” When Jensen nodded with a grin, Jared looked down with a shy grin. “Did you sleep okay?” He suddenly looked up and returned the question. Jensen blurted out, “God, yes. I haven’t slept that good in years.” Jared nodded, pleased but trying not to maintain eye contact for too long. He really had no idea what the hell he was doing. 

“Your place is really nice. It’s a nice townhome,” Jensen lead the conversation further. “Oh,” Jared looked pleasantly surprised, “thank you...I like it,” he nodded, then added, “It’s quiet, that’s for sure.” Jensen glanced at him. Jared seemed to be relaxing a bit, which was good. “So, have you walked around the other blocks yet, gone running or anything?” 

Jared answered, “No...no, I guess I’ve just been too focused on work. I should explore, at some point. Someone said there was a creek a few streets over with a walking trail.” Jared shrugged and sipped his coffee. 

Jensen thought for a few seconds, then went out on a limb, “Would you wanna go for a walk and check it out later? I mean after this fantastic breakfast you made, and if you’re not busy or if you don’t have other plans.” He let that sink in, focusing on his coffee, but glancing at Jared to gauge his reaction. 

The younger man didn’t seem objectionable, at all, just caught off guard. His mouth opened, he seemed to think about it, then answered Jensen with a grin, “I...yeah, I think that sounds really good. I’d actually love that.” Jared looked so happily grateful, Jensen wasn’t sure how to feel. Did he really expect Jensen was going to just screw him and then leave? The truth was, Jared was addicting to be with and he couldn’t seem to even think about spending the rest of his day without him. 

“Good,” Jensen nodded, then added, “it’s a date.” Jared matched his grin, then seemed to remember his manners, “Uhm...I thought you might be starving.” He started pushing the warming plates of pancakes and eggs toward Jensen, then rambled a bit, “I’m sorry if it sucks, I was kinda limited in choices.” Jared cleared his throat, looking like someone who was worried he was about to be rejected. 

Jensen couldn’t have that go on. He glanced up at him, “Jared.” The numbers expert looked at him, “Huh?” Jensen said, “No one’s ever made me breakfast before. Not since my mom was alive. I would have taken you out to eat, but this is even better. Thank you.” Jensen held his gaze until the younger man seemed to absorb that. Jared responded with a shy grin, “You’re welcome.” He was so pleased this was going well. For someone who hadn’t done this before, hot damned it was going pretty good. 

“So, who are your furry friends outside?” Jensen took helpings of the eggs and pancakes and kept the conversation rolling. Jared waited until his guest took his turn, then he did the same. “Oh, you saw them?” He hadn’t realized he’d been watched. Jensen nodded, “Yep. They yours?” Jared explained, “No, they’re not mine. They were here when I moved in and I noticed them hanging around. They don’t look wild to me but when I tried to corral them and take ‘em for vet visits, they left my arms in shreds.” 

“Ouch,” Jensen cringed. Jared nodded, “Yeah. Then they disappeared for awhile and then they came back and brought the little ones. So, I feed them when I’m home. I think maybe someone moved out and just left them. They were pretty scrawny before, but they’ve filled out.” Jensen smiled. He tried not to stare and make Jared uncomfortable, but God, the man was beautiful. 

“Do you have any pets?” Jared asked. Jensen picked up the little carafe of white creamy liquid and looked at it in confusion. “Uh, no...no, I’m never home enough. I’d love a dog or two, but it just wouldn’t be good for them to be alone so much.” Jensen held the carafe up and looked at his breakfast partner in question? 

Jared smiled at the raised eyebrow, “It’s for the pancakes...and it’ll cost you a few extra running miles. Try it.” Jensen looked at the cream again, then shook his head and poured, “Okay, but if I get fat I’m gonna come after you.” Jared had a thought that Jensen could come after him any time he damn well wanted, but he didn’t say anything. He started eating his eggs and waited for the man to finish pouring the sauce over his short stack and take his first bite. “Omygod,” Jensen reacted orgasmically to the heavenly combination of heavy cream, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar over his double chocolate chip pancakes. “Christ, Jared, do you eat this all the time?” 

Jensen looked at him in disbelief. Jared giggled, “No, not a lot.” Jensen couldn’t stop commenting on the explosion of rich sugary pleasure on his taste buds. Jared grinned while sipping his coffee, “My mom used to make that for us...I guess it became a comfort food when I was in New York...kind of a homesick thing, so I’m used to stocking my kitchen with it.” 

Jared shrugged a shoulder, “I only eat it once in awhile.” “Jesus christ, it’s incredible,” Jensen mumbled. Jared grinned, as Jensen left a third of his pancakes and started on his eggs. “Let me get some protein going before that diabetic coma hits,” the older man grumbled. Jared giggled again at Jensen’s comment. He was having a good time. Little did he know, Jensen was secretly plotting to make Jared giggle like that as much as possible. The sound was adorable. 

Jared dug into his own set of pancakes, the two men commenting about anything they could think of, as they went. Current events, the weather, anything neutral kept the conversation going and allowed both of them to ease into a comfortable rhythm. Once they were stuffed, each man leaned back and enjoyed more coffee. 

“Don’t even think about cleaning up,” Jensen threatened, “as soon as I can get my lazy ass up, I’m doing the dishes.” ‘There it is,’ Jensen thought happily, as Jared giggled again. “You’re not lazy,” Jared argued, “You’ve got an incredible body and I know you work out a LOT.” Jensen smirked, “Well, you’ve only seen it in the dark, but I’m glad you think so.” After a seconds pause, he added, “Yours, on the other hand...goddamn Jared, it’s...” 

Jared immediately turned a beet shade of red and stood up. ‘Jesus,’ he internally panicked, while busying himself with the dishes. Jensen enjoyed the most beautiful display of Jared’s embarrassing reaction he could have possibly asked for. ‘Wow, that’s adorable,’ he thought, then realized he’d been too distracted to notice the younger man was cleaning off the table and headed for the sink. 

“Hey,” he barked, immediately standing and hurrying to catch up to Jared. “Hey hey hey hey hey,” he continued, quickly taking the plates from Jared and shoving in front of him. Jared gave up and backed off, “Fine.” He nervously played with his hair a few seconds then walked away like he just thought of something. Jensen glanced at him and watched the beautiful backside go around the corner. 

Jared went to the bedroom, meaning to gather up the bedding and get it washed. ‘What the fuck,’ he sighed. He looked in the bathroom and noticed Jensen had rinsed everything off and wiped it too. ‘Goddamnit,’ Jared mentally cursed. He went to the washing machine and opened it. There was the towel and rag Jensen had used, the collection of bedding and his and Jensen’s underwear. 

‘For god’s sake, the man did everything,’ Jared mentally bitched, then transferred the load to the dryer. He really needed something to do. Jensen’s direct attention on him was kind of unnerving. It gave Jared little fluttery butterflies inside and he didn’t quite know how to handle that new feeling. 

After he finished setting the dryer, Jared took a few seconds to lean forward against it, weight resting on his hands. He needed to think about this. ‘He’s going commando,’ his thoughts wandered. That possibility had him visualizing what Jensen might be packing under his jeans. ‘Mmmm,’ Jared had felt that package last night and it was quite impressive. It was the very reason it hurt like a bitch every time he sat down and forgot to baby himself. 

Jared’s thoughts continued to wander further...maybe Jensen would stay awhile. Maybe he would get to explore the older man’s body more. Jared grinned at the thought, ‘I wonder what he tastes like,’ then Jensen came up behind him and scared the shit out of him. “Fuck,” Jared jumped, turning quickly at the touch of Jensen’s hands on his waist. “Jesus christ,” he tried to calm his breathing, landing one hand on Jensen’s shoulder, the other holding some of his weight against the dryer. 

Jensen slid his hands further around the younger man’s waist looking concerned, but smirking at the same time, “I’m sorry. You okay?” Jared continued to breathe, ‘holy fuck,’ “Yeah. It’s okay, I just didn’t hear you.” Jensen grinned knowingly, “What were you thinking about?” Jared looked adorably embarrassed once again, “Nothing,” his answer an obvious lie. The innocent attempt was pretty cute, Jensen had to admit. 

“Oh,” he said, “nothing, huh?” Jensen rubbed his hands around Jared’s lower back and pulled him closer, “You looked pretty lost in thought there for a minute.” Jared started to melt under Jensen’s touch. Damn the man was intoxicating to be around. He cleared his throat, “I was just,” Jared shrugged, “you know, just thinking over things.” Jensen searched his eyes, “Things, huh?” Jared nodded, drowning in Jensen’s closeness. Those green eyes were piercing. 

Jared tried to stay focused, “Uhm...you didn’t have to clean everything,” he spoke softly, “thank you,” Jared nodded, completely at a loss for words. His eyes darted. Jensen was looking at his mouth and it was terribly distracting. The older man smiled at his accountant’s nervousness, “It’s the least I can do, you know.” When Jared looked curious, Jensen continued, “Last night was the best time I’ve ever had in my life.” 

Jared looked down shyly before looking back up at Jensen. He nodded and smiled softly, “Me too.” Jensen suddenly turned serious, watching Jared collect himself from his shyness and meet his eyes. He marvelled at the hazel green that seemed to be competing for dominance over the steel grey today. Jensen would never get used to the ever changing color of Jared’s beautiful eyes. 

“Are you still okay with this? If I’m staying too long, just...just tell me to go and,” Jensen trailed off. He meant to give Jared assurance that he didn’t have to continue today if he felt smothered or uncomfortable in any way. He lost his train of thought, however, looking between Jared’s stunning eyes and his delectable mouth. 

Jared’s eyes landed on Jensen’s lips, then back up again. He stared at Jensen for a few seconds. The cop was sweet. He probably wouldn’t appreciate that sentiment but Jared couldn’t get over the kindness and consideration he kept dishing out. Jensen had so many levels and he wanted to get to know all of them. 

Jensen took Jared’s hesitation as a signal he should maybe back off just a bit, but when he started to slide his hands back from his waist, Jared stepped forward and pulled him in for a kiss. Instant renewed hunger took over. ‘Oh my god,’ the feel and taste of Jared reminded Jensen of how long it had been since they’d kissed. Too fucking long. 

Jensen’s arms went back around Jared’s waist and pulled him snug against him. Jared’s tongue gently demanded entrance, to which Jensen instantly obliged. They hungrily explored each other’s mouths, luscious swipes of tongues tasting and dancing together until finally they gently pulled apart. 

Jensen’s eyes held Jared’s gaze, glancing to his kiss swollen mouth and back up. The younger man licked his lips and that just wasn’t fair. Jensen couldn’t be blamed for his inability to concentrate. Jared’s hands slid down Jensen’s chest and rubbed up and down before he dropped them to the older man’s waist and tossed his hair back. 

Jensen shook his head and groaned under his breath, causing his counterpart to ask confusedly, “What?” Jensen sighed, “Nothing.” He looked put out, so Jared argued, “It’s not nothing, what...what did I do?” Jensen sighed again at the younger man’s obvious cluelessness to his beauty. 

“That thing you do, it’s,” Jensen motioned his pointer finger in the direction of Jared’s hair, “that hair thing, and the lick lipping thing is...well it’s damn hot.” Jared stood speechless. He wondered if the sugar was affecting Jensen’s brain. Jensen smiled at the dumbfounded look. The kid just didn’t see it. “It’s okay,” he soothed Jared, “you don’t have to agree. I’m the one that gets to enjoy it.” 

Jensen giggled when Jared moved past him, mumbling, “Let’s go for a walk. I think we need to clear your head.” Jared put on socks and tennis shoes. Jensen slipped his boots back on. He assured Jared it was okay to walk in the old worn leather before they headed out. They started a gradual uphill from Jared’s place, searching for the walking trail Jared had been told about. 

The air was crisp with a bite to it. Jackets weren’t quite necessary, since they were moving, but they both knew it was only nice because the sun was out. It would be ugly outside later on when the storm was due. The row of Jared’s larger units were far apart. The center of the complex had more conjoined units, smaller but still quaint and very peaceful. The whole place had a nice relaxed feel to it. 

Jensen scoped everybody’s yard while they walked. It was ingrained in him. He noticed the planters out front, whose car was home, how many people were outside and panned out possible escape routes. Why? He was a cop. It didn’t leave him just because he was on vacation. 

They walked a few feet from each other for awhile, then gravitated closer as they reached the top of the first hill. Looking around, Jared spotted the less populated street that led to the woodsy area he’d been told about. They headed that way, holding hands. Jensen didn’t know if he’d ever get over this holding hands thing. It still surprised him that he liked it so much. 

They found the little curved bridge that went over the creek and connected to the walking trail. The sign said it was only a quarter mile walk, so they continued that way in silence. Jared felt incredible. He got to explore this end of his complex, finally, and he was with somebody he felt completely at peace with. Being with Jensen felt magical. It felt like something he hadn’t even realized he’d been longing for. 

The path opened into a huge park. There were a few people out, running their dogs, a baseball game in the distance and some people having a picnic. “I didn’t even know this was here,” Jared commented. Jensen looked around, then pointed, “Look over there.” Jared looked the way he was pointing and saw a challenge course with various devices. “Oh cool.” He would definitely be coming back here to exercise. 

After spending awhile walking through the park, they headed back to the trail. Jensen slowed Jared by pulling on his hand until he gradually stopped him. “Come over here,” Jensen practically whispered, pulling Jared toward a wooden fence. Jared was confused, but he followed Jensen’s lead. He copied the older man and leaned on his elbows, trying to see where Jensen was looking. 

“I don’t see anything,” Jared said, but Jensen made a ‘ssshh’ sound. He pointed to a small clearing, close to the path where they were headed and Jared finally saw it. “Oh,” he whispered in awe. It was a group of doe’s, obviously pregnant. Jared counted six of them. He watched them for a few minutes, then something caught his eye and he realized there were huge antlers moving in between some trees. Obviously, the buck was watching his family. 

Jensen turned to look at the stunning vision of Jared watching the deer in silence. He couldn’t believe this beautiful creature had crossed his path. Jensen felt like the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet to have Jared actually interested in ‘him’. He cleared his throat, then turned back to look at the animals, “I think you’re gonna have some babies out here in a few months.” 

Jared nodded, then smiled in wonder, “Yeah.” He turned to Jensen with a smirk, “I won’t feed those, though.” Jensen grinned, “Nope, don’t think the asshole in the bushes would like that.” Jared giggled, “Exactly.” Jensen couldn’t believe how they clicked. Jared suddenly turned serious and faced him, “Can I ask you something?” 

Jensen turned to face him, “Of course, Jared, anything.” He watched Jared think something over first, then the younger man asked a question Jensen wasn’t expecting, “What is it about my bosses you don’t like? I mean...I know they’re assholes, but lots of bosses can be...are they in trouble for something...something terrible?” 

Jensen’s eyes showed his reluctance to hurt Jared in any way. He hated telling him something he wasn’t even sure about, but the younger man had obviously picked up on his disapproval of who he worked for and it bothered him. That fact alone gave Jensen no choice but to be as honest as he could. 

“I don’t have any proof,” he told Jared, “and I’ve looked. Believe me, I’ve tried to find out if anything’s going on right now. There’s been suspicion that Barron and Murray are raking in their millions on more than just real estate and investments. I think it came from tips and a former employee who can’t be found. They’ve been investigated a few times for some drugs and trafficking...prostitution, but only some lesser arrests have been made. One of their key people disappeared and no one ever could find any evidence of what happened. They haven’t ever found enough to hold them, nor to get them prosecuted.” 

Jensen watched Jared’s face as he absorbed that. He could see the worry and doubt in the younger man’s eyes, which was exactly why he hadn’t shared this with him before now. “Oh,” Jared looked down in worry, “well that just sucks...I had no idea.” He thought for a moment, then looked at Jensen, “What if it’s true? Am I really working for criminals? Doing their books for them? Jesus, Jensen, that’s just,” Jared looked back down. 

“Hey,” Jensen leaned into him, “This isn’t your fault, Jared, and it’s only suspicion at this point.” When Jared looked up, Jensen added, “If something was going on right now, I’d tell you...if anything to get you out of there before shit hit the fan. I dug around and I couldn’t find any investigations on them right now.” 

Jared couldn’t help it. He argued softly, “But what if it’s happening right now? What if they’re getting away with it? What if they’re hurting people, selling them, killing them? Can’t someone do something?” Jensen gently brushed the hair aside from Jared’s face. He searched Jared’s eyes and saw the open concern there. Jensen suddenly thought to himself that Jared’s caring soul, combined with being a man of action, could very well be a dangerous combination. 

“Jared, you can’t show anything when you go in to work. You can’t show that you know ‘any’ of this, or they’ll suspect you and I don’t think I can stop myself from handcuffing you to something to keep you from endangering yourself.” Jensen waited for a few seconds, but he didn’t get an immediate agreement. “Jared,” he warned, but still received the younger man’s silence. He could see the proverbial wheels turning. 

Jensen moved closer, imploring Jared to look at him, “Jared, this isn’t something to mess around with. Please promise me you’ll stay out of it.” Jared’s silence was only because he was scrolling through the possibilities, but the look in Jensen’s eyes quickly forced his agreement. It was reluctant, but Jensen looked truly worried. “Alright,” he agreed, but he wasn’t happy about it. 

Jensen raised an eyebrow because that didn’t sound too convincing to him, “Promise me.” Jared argued back irritably, “Alright, I promise.” When Jensen looked at him in disbelief, Jared repeated, “I do. I promise not to do anything.” He appreciated Jensen’s concern but it was frustrating to be so close, on the inside, and not be able to help in some way. 

Jared leaned on his elbows again, his eyes darting, “Still, I don’t see how a little look into some accounts would,” “No, no, and NO,” Jensen bitched, until Jared finally sighed. “Fine,” he rolled his eyes in frustration. After a few seconds of silence, Jared changed the subject, “I did search for jobs Friday and applied for a few interviews.” 

Jensen looked at him, “Oh?” This pleased him tremendously. Jared nodded, “Yeah, a couple of them responded already and said they would call me Monday for FaceTime interviews.” Jensen tried not to squee in joyful delight out loud. Instead, he nodded, “Good. That’s good.” He really wanted Jared out of that place. 

Jared continued, “Even before you told me this, I knew I couldn’t stay there. You were right the first day, they’re assholes. I just tried to ride it out a bit longer to see if they got better.” Jensen rubbed his hand up and down Jared’s arm, while Jared told him more, “It wasn’t just the Singapore trip, it’s the business deals...the meetings. They’re control freaks, I knew that, but...but the way I’ve seen them treat people...” 

Jared shook his head, “It’s a wonder anybody does business with them. I can’t believe some of the deals they still manage to get, even after they get into screaming matches with people. I’m really not looking forward to telling them I’m leaving. I’ll offer to pay them back for moving me out here. Hopefully, that’ll help.” 

Jensen waited until Jared paused, then questioned him, “They don’t involve you in that screaming part of these meetings, do they?” Jared looked inquisitively at him, so Jensen elaborated, “I mean the arguments. Do they suck you into those with other people?” Jared said, “No, not really. I mean I’m in the room, but I’m usually just waiting for decisions and direction. They argue and fight, then they tell me what to rearrange and take out or add.” Jensen studied Jared, thinking this over. He sighed, hating this situation. “Have they ever yelled at you? Made you feel bullied or coerced?” 

Jared smiled softly, “No,” looking down. When he looked up at Jensen, he added, “Not yet anyway. I mean under their control, yeah because I do what they tell me, but not directly at me, no.” Jared thought about it, then added, “Of course, I haven’t given them any reason to. One of the other accountants moved money without asking and was chewed to hell and back.” 

Jared thought for another few seconds, then confessed, “That was kind of terrifying. I never want to fuck up, that’s for sure. There’s a coldness in both of them. Something about them that’s dark. So coerced? I think the whole office is coerced, along with their business partners, but maybe they’re just used to getting their way and can’t see any other way after all these years.” 

Jensen didn’t like the sound of this. “I’m glad you’re getting out of there and I hope it’s soon,” Jensen sighed, “I’m not gonna be able to stop worrying about you being under their rule. Do these interviews look promising?” 

Jared smiled, “Yeah, actually. I’m not the only one who wants to leave, either. There are others looking. I haven’t said anything to anyone. I’m not sure who I can trust yet and I didn’t want anyone to tell them before I do.” Jared looked down shyly, then back up at Jensen, “Thank you for worrying about me...but I’ll be okay.” 

Jensen gently brushed the hair aside from Jared’s face again. He wanted to tell Jared it wasn’t just worry he was feeling, these feelings ran much deeper than that. Jensen was experiencing new emotions that came from his soul. His need to protect Jared from every hurt was overwhelming. It wasn’t just the cop in him, it was definitely something more personal. 

“Jared, if you feel like you need to get out fast, like immediate fast, you call me, okay? In the middle of the night, no matter what, you call me,” Jensen was adamant. He would be there for Jared. “I’ll come in guns blazing if you need me to.” Jared stared at him. He could do nothing but nod. He was overwhelmed by such devotion from this man that he couldn’t think of anything to say. 

Jared finally opened his mouth to mention his niece, but Jensen cut him off, “I’ve got money. Don’t you let that stop you.” Jared’s face turned argumentative, but Jensen cut him off again, “You can pay me back.” Jared sighed, stewing over Jensen’s generosity for a second, then shaking his head, “I can’t do that, Jensen, it’s not...” 

The older man interrupted, “It’s mine...and I can do what I want with it...and yes you can. What I’m saying is, you don’t stay if you’re feeling like it’s getting so bad you feel threatened, okay? Don’t wait for another job. I’ve got plenty of dough stashed away for retirement and from all the vacations I’ve never taken. It’s yours and it won’t be any problem. Your niece will never feel the difference.” 

Jared just stood there and breathed through the emotion that was overtaking him. Where did Jensen come from and why was he willing to just pour out his savings to someone he didn’t even know? This wasn’t just a ‘get to know you’ date anymore, Jared was feeling deeply cared about, revered...like this was where he was meant to be and he’d finally found it. 

Jensen could see he had rendered the kid speechless, for now. Maybe Jared wasn’t feeling the intense pull between them, but Jensen had no qualms about trusting him. It wasn’t the norm. He usually didn’t trust anybody, but Jared emitted rays of innocent goodness. He was an open book. Jensen was becoming quite enamored already. 

Instead of scaring the young man off with more of his overbearing thoughts, Jensen smoothly held out his hand, “Ready to head back?” Jared slowly took his hand, still in shock over the way this cop was melding into is very soul. “Sure,” he offered, touched to the core by the warmth in Jensen’s eyes. He reminded himself not to fall in love on the first date. 

They followed the trail back. About two blocks from Jared’s home, Jensen felt a raindrop. “Oh shit,” he blurted out. When Jared looked at him in question, Jensen opened his mouth to explain but the clouds beat him to it and opened up. Jared looked up, “Fuck!” Both men took off running for the house. 

They were drenched by the time they reached the small front lawn. Apparently, the news cast was a few hours off in their expectation of the storm. Jensen stepped on a muddy corner and slipped. “Fuck,” the older man cried when he felt himself falling. Jared instantly tried to catch him, but Jensen’s weight and momentum pulled them both down into a glorious thud. 

Struggling between intertwined arms and legs, they tried to get up and kept slipping. After a few attempts, Jared started giggling. He kept trying to get up, but as each further attempt failed, he laughed harder. The wet clothes stuck to his skin were uncomfortable as hell, but he couldn’t get enough momentum to actually stand up. Laughter bellowed out of him, as he took a moment to just lay in the grass. 

The gut wrenching spasms brought out Jensen’s fit of the giggles until he, too, broke into uncontrollable hysterics. This must be a sight to anyone passing by. “Dammit,” Jensen bitched, still trying but failing to get up. The rain came down hard. It wasn’t giving them any breaks. Jared finally gave up standing and started crawling on his knees toward the front porch. 

Jensen was right behind him, but finally managed to stand enough to lift Jared by the waist and give him some support. Together they made it up the porch, slipping and catching themselves on the way. Jared had to fumble with the keys, dropping them twice from slippery fingers. He finally got the key in the lock, giggling the whole time at their ridiculous turn of events. 

Jensen kept his warm hands on the younger man’s waist. Once the door was opened, Jared turned back to look the cop over and grinned at the site. Jensen was covered in mud up his left leg, and his worn leather boots were toast. The accountant raised an eyebrow in question, thinking maybe they were too muddy to just traipse inside, but Jensen interjected. 

“I’ll clean your floor,” he threatened when he saw the indecisive thought run across Jared’s face, “I am NOT taking my pants off outside! Remember I’m commando, guy, your neighbors will have a stroke.” Jared burst out laughing, as he turned to step inside and pulled Jensen with him. He shut the door and both men started stripping in the entry hall. 

Once they had a pile of wet clothes and shoes, both men stood naked, catching their breath for a minute. They bent to pick up their respective piles of clothing, stealing glances at one another’s bare bodies. Each man had sudden thoughts of their own, as they walked to the washer and dropped their items inside. Jensen put the boots on the dryer, explaining he would brush them off after they dried. 

Jared nodded in silence, then added the detergent and set the washer. When he finished, he stood next to Jensen and finally met the man’s eyes. Jared felt himself harden. Here they were, standing naked and suddenly Jared wanted nothing more than for Jensen to touch him...anywhere, do anything...just touch him. 

Jensen’s controlled breathing started to escalate quietly again. His dick was definitely taking notice to the beautiful naked man standing in front of him. ‘Oh boy,’ he suddenly needed to touch this kid, kiss him and never stop. Jensen was ready to drown in this man’s heat all over again, make him respond, taste him everywhere. 

Jared read the reciprocated hunger in Jensen’s eyes. He cleared his throat, “Do you...wanna take a shower...uhm, I mean, it’s cold and,” “Together?” Jensen interrupted, moving closer. His gaze was smouldering, piercing. Jared could not look away. He nodded, “Yes.” Jensen slipped his hands around Jared’s waist and pulled him closer, “Definitely yes.”

Jensen took command of Jared’s beautiful mouth, his tongue demanding immediate entrance. They kissed, quickly escalating to passionate intensity. Bodies pushed against each other, causing their groins to meld. “Ah,” Jared’s whispery cry of pleasure matched Jensen’s moan at their cocks touching. 

Both men’s moans were followed by hands roaming all over each other’s bodies. Their body temperatures rose quickly, despite the chill in the air. They clamped onto each other’s ass cheeks, kneading and pulling their groins together harder. “Ohmygod,” Jared panted into the air while pushing his ear closer to Jensen’s onslaught behind it.   
“Jensen, we need to...” Jared’s eyes rolled up, “aaaah,” responding to the feel of Jensen’s hot mouth devouring his neck and going behind his other ear. 

He couldn’t think, but he knew they needed to get moving. He didn’t know about Jensen, but Jared was definitely going to come if the didn’t get moving. Jensen moaned in approval. Jared’s skin was smooth. The kids hands all over him were driving him wild. He was beyond reason, at the moment, enjoying the sensational treat in his arms. Jared’s responses were like an erotic song going straight to his dick. 

He could feel their rock hard cocks poking into each other, and the way they were pushing into the friction warned him they better get to the shower ‘right damned now.’  
Jensen pushed as Jared pulled. The younger man backed step by step, as Jensen moved with him, not letting go of his tight hold. Neither man stopped what they were doing, bringing their mouths back together for more delicious exploration. 

They almost reached Jared’s bedroom but stopped when Jared got caught on a wall by the bedroom door. Jensen pushed against him. They cried out and ground hard cocks against one another, taking a few minutes to groan through the sparks of pleasure. When Jensen pushed hard like he was hell bent on lifting Jared off his feet and fucking him senseless, he knew he needed to slow himself down. Jared was sore...there’d be none of that because it would hurt him. 

Jared managed to inch his way through the door frame, pulling Jensen with him. Neither man stopped kissing with mouths opened wide. Tongues blatantly slid together, lips joined, their hands roamed everywhere. They had to stop, but only for a few seconds, as Jared managed to pull the water faucet out and twist it on hot. Jensen grabbed two of the towels nearby and laid them over the top of the shower, then he supported Jared by his naked back as he stepped in backward. 

The hot water felt amazing. It beaded down on both of them, as their bodies began thrusting together. They moaned and kissed, driving themselves higher, now unable to slow things down anymore. Jensen broke his mouth off, squeezing Jared’s arms and holding him still as he fought to catch his breath. Jared was panting just as hard. After he managed to get some air, Jensen asked him, “You close?” 

Jared nodded, eyes dark with passion. Jensen said, “Me too.” He grabbed the gel and squirt it into his hands, then stared into Jared’s smouldering eyes as he rubbed it into Jared’s hair and down his body. The kid’s eyes closed and his head fell back with his mouth open. He moaned beautifully as Jensen’s hands rubbed soap all over his muscular chest, back and stomach. 

This was the most erotic and sensual thing Jensen had ever done. Jared was putty in his hands. The accountant was moaning and deliciously gyrating his body in response to Jensen’s soapy hands all over him. He slipped one hand into the crease of Jared’s groin, rubbing and soaping his ball sac. The moans got louder. 

Jensen pushed him under the hot water to rinse but kept his hand where it was...he rubbed and massaged Jared’s balls, then slid his hand to his dick. Jared’s hands were kneading and rubbing Jensen’s shoulders. They slid behind the older man’s neck and pulled his head closer. Jared cried out at the pleasure he was feeling, then pulled Jensen’s mouth in for a kiss. 

Jensen slid his hand up and down Jared’s dick, the accountant crying out into Jensen’s mouth. ‘Oh god yes,’ Jared’s mind tried to convey, but his cries were muffled. It felt so good. Jensen’s skin, his wet body rubbing against him, his soapy hand on his cock, it was all bringing him to orgasm fast. Jensen’s cries were matching Jared’s, responding to the incredible feelings of experiencing this with Jared. 

He plastered himself hard against the younger man, pushing himself as close as he could get. Jensen’s left hand slipped down Jared’s lower back, his still soapy fingers making it into Jared’s crack. The gorgeous numbers expert was moaning louder now, having to breathe to the side, in between keeping his mouth’s on Jensen’s. He was losing it, Jensen could tell. Jared was going come, and this was exactly where Jensen wanted him. 

“Aah,god,” Jared’s hands tightened behind the older man’s neck, his pelvis pushing forward. Jared’s face was desperate need, escalating and reaching, combined with pleasure from every thrust. “Ooh, god yes,” he was fucking into Jensen’s hand now, pushing wrecklessly into the blissful sparks of pleasure Jensen’s hand was giving him. Pushing, pumping, and then Jensen’s fingers slipped down to Jared’s hole and barely made themselves known without pushing too hard. 

“Aah...oooh....ohmygod,” Jared was lost. “Yes, Jared. That’s it,” Jensen was mesmerized by the beautiful site. “That’s it, baby, come for me,” he growled, then his new lover cried out, pumped his hips two more times and came, “Aaaaaaahhhh,” Jared threw his head back, crying out and pulsating with intensity. Jensen shouted, “YES,” as he watched the most beautiful orgasm he’d ever seen, and he’d certainly watched his share of porn. 

Jared gyrated and cried out over and over, blissfully taken over by pleasure filled spasms, riding his orgasm until it subsided. His face had expressed all of the experience, from tension to desperation, to begging anticipation and then exploding in absolute ecstasy. He was now moaning through the aftershocks, completely helpless in Jensen’s arms until finally his orgasm released him to stand shaking and limp, struggling for oxygen. 

“Fucking beautiful,” Jensen kissed his temple, supporting the younger man’s weight as his head landed heavily on Jensen’s shoulder. He was breathing hard, having almost come from just watching. That had been the most erotic thing he’d ever experienced. Jared, for one, was the most sensual and responsive lover ever, but to top that off he was goddamned built like a centerfold model and the way he came...Jensen’s mind literally growled in menace at the thought of anyone else ‘ever’ getting to witness that. 

Jared wasn’t quite capable yet. He was barely able to stand. Jesus christ, that was good. He certainly hadn’t come like that when he gave himself his own hand jobs in the shower. He felt Jensen’s hands roaming all over his back, comforting, coaxing him down. God, this man was perfect. 

“You okay?” Jensen mumbled into Jared’s ear, kissing him on the side of his head and waiting. His hands rubbed Jared’s lower back. Jared nodded, his head limp in the crook of Jensen’s neck. When he raised his head, the look of lazy dreaminess made Jensen giggle, “Feeling good?” Jared kissed him sloppily and smiled, “Oh yeah,” lopping his head to the side. 

Jensen giggled again, loving his post orgasmic accountant’s drunk like behavior. “Mmmm,” Jensen soothed, “I think I’m going to want to do that to you as much as possible.” He rubbed Jared’s back as the kid finally got back some of his energy. Jensen saw Jared’s eyes gain back some intensity, as the younger man lazily rubbed his hands up and down the cop’s beautifully sculpted chest. 

“Mmmmm,” Jared looked him over, rubbing and feeling and appreciating all of Jensen’s power under that smooth skin. “You can do anything you want to me anytime, copper,” Jensen smiled at Jared’s comment. “That so,” Jensen’s dick got even harder, if that was possible. He was leaking and red. “But right now, I get to do something I’ve been thinking about,” Jared kissed Jensen quickly, then turned him slightly so he had room to get down on his knees. 

He slid his hands down Jensen’s rock hard abs, as he bent to his knees. Jared’s hands on his hip bones were enough to send sparks of anticipation thrumming through Jensen’s body. “Jared,” Jensen panted, “fuck,” he tried his hardest to concentrate on anything but the gorgeous hunk on his knees about to suck his cock. He couldn’t help watching, but fuck, he was gonna come too fast. 

“I’m sorry,” he confessed in a gusty exhale, trying his hardest to let Jared know. Jensen kept panting until Jared looked up at him,“I can’t...Jared I’m too close...you just...watching you come like that was...” Jensen closed his eyes, as Jared rubbed his hands around Jensen’s cock without touching it. He thought it was the hottest thing ever that Jensen had almost come from watching his orgasm. 

“S’okay,” Jared said, his hands sliding up Jensen’s thighs toward the pubic hair and then toward his prize. Jensen’s eyes rolled up, as he grabbed hold violently to the top of the shower door and the window sill. “God you’re so beautiful, Jensen,” Jared continued to rub his hands around Jensen’s dick and up and down his thighs. Jensen’s hair was a golden red. His balls were huge and full. His dick was thick and full, blatantly poking at Jared, begging for his touch. 

Jensen kept his grip, his eyes barely able to glance down and watch, fearing it would send him right over the edge. He knew Jared wanted to play for at least a few seconds. He hoped he would survive this. Jensen clenched and groaned when he felt the younger man touch his balls. “Mmmmm....mmmmmm,” he moaned over and over, as Jared rubbed and cradled them. 

“Gorgeous all over,” Jared said, then opened his mouth wide and suckled one side for a few seconds, before moving to the other. Jensen moaned louder now. Fuck, this was it. He couldn’t take it. “Jared,” he warned. Jensen’s orgasm was definitely pushing its way to the surface. 

Jared hadn’t had much time to enjoy everything he wanted, but he made a pact to do that another time. Right now, he didn’t want to miss this opportunity to taste what he wanted most. “Come hard for me, Jensen,” Jared commanded, then slipped his mouth over Jensen’s cock in one movement. “Aaaahh..christ,” Jensen was gone to the world. Jesus christ, it felt so good. Nothing existed but the hot molten lava that was enveloping his dick. 

Jared’s mouth was unimaginable. “Fuck, Jared,” Jensen cried out, wondering if that was really his voice making that sound. He started to push, then stopped himself. He had no idea what he was doing, the pleasure driving him wild. “Aaaahh,” he cried out, moaning loudly in between. “God yes...fuck Jared.” 

Jared slid one finger from Jensen’s perineum, back between his ass cheeks. He rubbed his soapy fingers back and forth on the hole, letting Jensen feel the stimulation, know he was there. Jensen moaned louder, rising to the finish, way beyond any sense of control. He grunted and pumped his hips, trying so hard not to, but failing. 

Jared added his hand to the older man’s dick and held it, while bobbing his head forward and back and sucking hard as he could. Jensen was in ecstasy. He felt the younger man’s slippery finger push inside of him and he gripped the steel shower frame and window sill even harder, his knuckles turning white. 

“Oh fuck I’m coming,” he pumped into Jared’s mouth. “Fuck, I’m coming,” Jensen warned, as he reached the top of the crest. Jared’s finger pushed in just a bit further and Jensen lost it. “JARED,” he screamed, as threw his head back and shuttered his pelvis forward, “Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhfuck,” Jensen convulsed hard. He came gloriously into Jared’s mouth, the younger man moaning at his first taste of the pulsing seed. 

Jensen came and came, pushing powerfully into Jared’s heat, crying out over and over at the waves of unimaginable pleasure. He was left boneless, quivering and still spasming from the after shocks. Jensen was unable to do anything but just hang there limp, as his body emptied itself right into Jared’s mouth. He heaved and moaned, trying to gain some sense of control, but it would be a few minutes before he would have any chance of clarity. 

Before he even became aware, he felt hands lovingly rubbing his face and all over his body, soothing him. He felt kisses on his face, his temple, his cheek bones, and then he was held by long muscular arms, his weight supported for him. Jensen was in a dream, floating in a cocoon of protectiveness. Someone held him, made him feel safe. 

Finally gathering his senses about him, Jensen realized that was the first time he’d really let go with someone...let himself just ‘be’ in the moment, enjoy it and not worry about always having to be the protector, the caretaker. Jesus, he’d even missed letting go of the grips he had on Jared’s shower and window sill. His hands were hanging loosely around Jared’s slim waist. 

“You back with me?” Jared’s voice softly asked in Jensen’s ear. “Mmmm,” Jensen grinned lazily, “Mmhmm.” Jared snickered softly, still holding him. He bit Jensen’s ear, “This is the best shower I’ve ever had.” Jensen hung there, still loose and floating but he managed to giggle, then grumble, “Goddamn right.” 

Jared reached behind him and shut the water off. He grabbed one of the towels and started drying Jensen with it. The older man enjoyed it for a moment, then pushed his listless arms to help him. When Jensen was dry, he grabbed the other towel and did the same for Jared. He spent a little time drying Jared’s hair, then dried the rest of glorious body.

Jensen noticed the younger man was smirking. “What,” he asked with his own smirk, feeling giddy like an idiot. “My tough little copper after his bath,” Jared giggled, then shrugged a shoulder, “It’s cute.” Jensen sighed, looking highly perturbed at Jared’s assessment. “Well, it wasn’t just an ordinary bath, smart ass, so excuse me if I’m a little loopy. It’s your fault, you know.” Jared argued while smiling, “MY fault? How can it be MY fault?” 

Jensen took the towels in his hands and started to step out of the shower with Jared. He looked a the kid, “Because...you’re the hottest fucking thing since sliced bread and it’s frying my circuits a little, okay?” Jared looked away, shyly, mumbling under his breath, “Well maybe you just have some hot circuits that fry ‘my’ circuits.” He walked over to the dresser nd bent over to grab some clothing from the drawers for them to wear. 

Jensen exclaimed “Jesus,” from behind him. Jared forgot he was buck naked. He snagged one of the towels from Jensen’s hands and secured it around his waist, then went back to what he was doing. He heard Jensen’s grumbled, “Like that’s gonna help,” but finished gathering two sets of clothes. After they were dressed, they went to the dryer and took everything out to remake Jared’s bed. Jared transferred their wet clothes to the dryer, while Jensen finished with the bedspread and pillows. 

Jared flipped the fireplace switch on and invited Jensen to get comfortable on the couch with him. They laid back against the thick back of the couch and stretched their legs out. Jensen turned his head to look at Jared, who was already looking at him. ‘Those eyes,’ Jensen thought. Both men smiled softly, studying each other and thinking over the last almost twenty four hours. 

Jensen reached over and moved a strand of hair that was covering Jared’s face. “Your hair’s almost dry,” he said softly. The younger man yawned, “Mmhm, it dries pretty fast.” Jensen thought it was terribly cute how Jared’s words were a bit slurred. “You sleepy?” 

Jared blinked heavily, still focused on Jensen. “Yeah,” he responded, “relaxed though.” Jared studied Jensen for a few seconds, then added, “I don’t usually relax this well. It isn’t easy for me. You must be putting cough syrup in my food, or something.” Jensen studied him and smiled. Jared knew damn well it had been the amazing sex that had worn them both out. 

He noticed the beautiful eyes were a light grey with swirls of medium grey and little diamond like sparkles in them. ‘Amazing,’ he marveled at their beauty. He could only see faint tendrils of the green today and no hazel. Jared must be relaxed to the bone right now, no stress, and no anxiety. This was quite the beautiful sight. 

“You wanna take a nap?” Jensen waited for his sleepy date to consider that. Jared didn’t think that would be a very nice host thing to do, but he was feeling pretty exhausted. It was a delayed argument, but he finally answered Jensen, “Not now...maybe later, though.” 

Jensen very softly rubbed Jared’s head, “How ‘bout if I take off when my clothes are dry? You can rest and you still have all day tomorrow before you have to work. Maybe you’ll catch up on your sleep that way.” Jared had a moment’s thought that he never wanted Jensen to leave, ever, but he realized this was just their first date and it had already been extended to probably count as about ten. 

There was no pretentiousness, no having to impress or worry about the other’s judgment. This was a perfect rhythm between them. Jared could easily fall in love with this man. He nodded sleepily, “Okay,” but he wasn’t sure he really wanted that. His eyes studied Jensen, “What are you gonna do?” Jensen rested his head on his hand and continued to watch Jared, “Oh, I’ll probably lay around a bit...think about you...sleep in tomorrow...think about you some more...I might drive to Dallas and visit my dad...that’ll give me a three hour drive to think about you.”

Jared smiled sleepily. Jensen was adorable. The older man asked, “Tomorrow’s your last day off, what are you gonna do?” Jared smiled softly, “I’ll try and sleep in...maybe the book store and call my parents. Hopefully, I’ll get some interviews.” Jensen feigned disappointment, “Oh...not think about me?” Jared giggled, which made Jensen smile. His accountant became serious, “Thinking about you is a given.” 

Jensen smiled. He was enjoying this lazy relaxed banter immensely. He could sit like this and talk with Jared for hours. The walls he normally wore because of his job, and that normally came home with him, simply melted away around Jared. There was something easy going about being with him. Jensen felt about thirteen inside, getting asked to a dance for the first time. Jared came out of nowhere, but damn if he was absolutely perfect. 

The dryer ‘dinged’ too soon, in both men’s opinions. They reluctantly dragged themselves to gather Jensen’s clothing and say their goodbye’s. Jared had never felt this attached to someone he just met before. He had certainly never had someone stay the night before and fixed them breakfast, then spent the whole day with them. He craved more time with Jensen, and as soon as he could get it. 

Jared knew that once his job took hold of him again on Tuesday morning, there were no guarantees. He hoped those interviews panned out tomorrow. Jensen stopped at the front door and turned before he opened it. He placed his hands on either side of Jared’s cheeks, looking directly into his eyes. “I am so goddamn lucky you crossed my path, Jared. I want more...if that’s alright with you, I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give. For how we started out yesterday, not knowing what the hell we were doing, I’m finding that all I wanna do is spend time with you.” 

Jared swallowed, staring into Jensen’s piercing hazel green eyes. He wasn’t sure how to process someone looking at him like that. God, Jensen was melting his insides. “I,” Jared was distracted, “I’m not sure how to process how fast this was, but...I’ve never wanted anything this much.” He nodded, “I definitely want to spend more time with you.” 

They kissed, gentle and warm, full of promise, then slipped their arms around each other’s waists and leaned their foreheads together. After heavy sighs of reassurance that this wasn’t over, they slowly pulled apart. “I’ll stay in touch,” Jensen said. Jared nodded, “Me too.” He smiled softly. Jensen turned and opened the door. Jared watched him jog through the rain to his truck and get in. He stood at the door until Jensen backed out and pulled away with a quick wave.


	7. CHAPTER SEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new lovers spend almost two days apart. Almost. Jensen finds out more disturbing background about Jared’s bosses, while Jared goes back to work. The boys play racquetball, then they have a conversation about why Jensen can’t get Jared away from his employer fast enough. This is a danger build chapter, with some schmoopy little moments mixed in and a beautiful kiss in the rain. Hope you enjoy.

CHAPTER SEVEN 

 

The next morning, Jensen headed for Dallas to visit his father. He sent Jared a text to say ‘good morning’, then headed out the door. It was raining heavy all day, leaving no chance to get any work done outside, so the father and son duo worked on some shelving, and played cards. They threw together an early dinner and Skype’d the other Ackles men, laughing and catching up. 

Jensen wound up staying the night, hoping to take his dad for breakfast before heading back to Austin the next day. This had been a good idea. The relaxed grin on Alan Ackles’ face confirmed that Jensen had chosen the perfect way to spend some of his time off. ‘And Jared,’ he thought to himself. ‘Speaking of,’ Jensen looked at his watch and bid his father goodnight. 

Jared sounded tired when he answered his cell phone around ten thirty p.m. Jensen’s heart melted when he heard the sweet welcome in the younger man’s voice. “Hi,” Jared obviously knew it was him. Laying on his bed with a lazy smile, Jensen responded with his own, “Hi,” then sighed blissfully. It felt like it had been a week since he’d seen Jared, but it had only been a day.

“It’s late,” Jared commented, sounding like he’d been in bed, “I wasn’t sure if you’d call.” Jensen imagined him laying dreamily on the pillows, his soft hair billowed out around his face. “Yeah,” Jensen answered, “Sorry, I just...” Jensen sighed, not sure if he wanted to admit it, “I couldn’t fall asleep without saying ‘hi’ to the new hottie in my life.” 

Jared giggled adorably. God, Jensen wanted to climb through the phone and kiss the shit out of him. Jared responded, “Well, I still think you need glasses, but I’ve been thinking about the new ‘hottie’ in my life, too. How are you?” Jensen smiled, loving the sound of Jared’s voice, but also loving that giggle, “I’m still at dad’s...good trip, great electronic get together with the bro’s, but the traffic sucked, it’s been raining the whole time, people can’t drive, and my sexy accountant is across the globe.” 

Jared’s smooth chuckle went straight to Jensen’s dick, “You’re only three hours away, silly.” Jensen continued to whine, “I know. Why the hell doesn’t it feel like it’s that close?” Jared paused, as Jensen listened to him breathing. Finally the younger man said, “I know what you mean...my bed’s cold.” Jensen groaned, “Oh nooooo, why’d you go and say that? Now, I’ll never be able to sleep.” 

Jared smiled. He liked it when Jensen called him ‘my’ sexy accountant. The thought of being ‘my’ anything to Jensen was pretty appealing. Jensen’s voice was relaxing him, making him feel connected. He’d missed him all day, but especially now while laying in bed. “I’ve never missed anybody like this before. It’s cool, but then it’s not. Since you’re across the globe and all.” 

Jared sighed, “I don’t think chocolate pancakes even sound good without you around.” Jensen grinned, but then moaned in frustration, “Man there are so many things...” he sighed. They both paused, thoughts wandering. Of course, if he were there and indulging in those ‘things’, his accountant wouldn’t get any sleep...Jensen knew the younger man had to work tomorrow. 

“Are you as exhausted as you sound?” Jensen asked with concern in his voice. Jared responded, “No, it’s okay. I went to the gym and kicked some ass...more than usual, actually. I even hit the sauna. I wasn’t sure about my schedule the rest of the week, so I probably overdid it...covered every muscle group, ya know?” Jensen understood, though he hated Jared returning to work in that place. 

“What happened today with the interviews?” Jensen heard the faint trace of disappointment in the younger man’s tone as he explained that the interviews hadn’t been as promising as he thought. He wound up applying for another three places, but it was disappointing not to have something solid. He felt really good about them, at first. 

“I’m going to have to tell them tomorrow, if they’re there. At least let them know I’m applying in case they get calls about me. I’ll offer to pay them back for all the moving expenses, so hopefully that will soften the blow. I don’t want them to fire me, thinking I’m hiding anything.” 

Jensen understood Jared’s honest nature, but he couldn’t help his concern, “Maybe you shouldn’t say anything ‘til something pans out. Then when one of them offers to hire you, ‘then’ let them know. What was wrong with the two today?” Jared explained they looked like great prospects, but after they talked for awhile and asked where he was working, both of them back tracked and told him they would consider it and get back to him. He took that as a ‘no’. 

Jensen’s mind was going to dark places and stressing about all kinds of things. He didn’t have a good feeling about this. Jared got worried when the older man went quiet for too long, “Jensen?” The cop in Jensen had been scrolling through the possibilities in his mind of Jared being blocked from other positions by these assholes. “I’m here,” the older man said, “I’m sorry, I’m just worried about you...Jared, these assholes might have tendrils in some of the places you’re applying. I really think you should wait and not say anything yet. Let me check it out and see who they own.” 

Jared heard the concern in Jensen’s voice. He hadn’t even thought of that possibility. ‘Stupid,’ he thought to himself. He chose to agree, for now, and refrain from telling Barron and Murray, but he also offered to do his own exploring, “I have access to all of that. I probably could,” “No,” Jensen sounded adamant, “Absolutely not, Jared, please. This isn’t Google or Amazon or some well known grocery outlet with employee protections. They’re private for a reason. Their dealings are kept quiet because they want them that way. It isn’t safe for you to go snooping around.” 

Jared’s immediate instinctive reaction was to argue, but the unbridled worry in Jensen’s voice stopped him. This man cared about him. That meant a lot. “Okay,” Jared agreed, secretly wondering what the hell happened to the strong willed opinionated stubborn person he used to be. There was something deep down that responded automatically to Jensen, and Jared hadn’t experienced it before. 

Jensen sighed in relief that Jared would at least back off from doing any snooping. The thought of the younger man getting caught by his bosses didn’t sit well. Jensen needed to keep Jared as neutral, as humanly possible, until he could get him the hell out of there. “I’ll be back in town tomorrow afternoon,” Jensen softened, “but tonight, I’m gonna put my friend on this and check out their files. If I can find out all their subcompanies, we’ll figure out if maybe they’ve blocked you somehow from being hired anywhere else.” 

Jared sighed heavily, feeling pretty defeated at the thought. What the hell had he gotten himself into? “Hey,” Jensen seemed to sense his mood, “if this is what’s happening, it’s probably common for them. I can’t imagine they’d want to let any of their hand picked experts go, right? It doesn’t have to be personal, this might be some agreement they have with their other businesses.” 

Jensen was trying to sound encouraging, even if he didn’t feel it. Jared knew what the cop was doing, but it didn’t erase his internal alarms blaring in his mind. What if he was stuck? Jensen wished he was laying next to him, “Hey...just lay low, okay? They don’t own everybody, even if they think they do...and remember my offer still stands.” 

Jared’s refusal to accept Jensen’s money weighed on both their minds. Jensen was hell bent on helping Jared’s niece, no matter where their new relationship ended up, but he knew Jared wasn’t privy to accepting it yet. “In the meantime,” Jensen changed the subject, “I know you just got rid of me, and all, but I have a racquetball court reserved for seven tomorrow evening, if you feel like joining me. I usually play alone, but I’d much rather share my court with a cute as hell accountant.” 

Jared tried to hang onto his gloomy mood, but he simply couldn’t. The thought at seeing Jensen again this soon had him instantly feeling better about things. He answered softly, “I’d love that...as long as they don’t whisk us off to another country again or have a late meeting, I’ll be there.” Jensen closed his eyes and sighed. He silently prayed for an easy week for Jared, but his worry for the younger man was in full force. 

“It’s a date, then,” Jensen said. Jared smiled, “Yes. It’s our second in three days.” Jensen feigned worry, “Hmm...what do you suppose that means?” Jared snickered softly, “M’not sure.” After pausing, he added, “M’sure willing to figure it out, though.” Jensen nodded, even though Jared couldn’t see him. “Me too...definitely,” Jensen said. 

They talked for a few minutes longer, then hung up saying goodnight. Jensen immediately called Jeff Morgan. “Don’t tell me you’re still with him,” Jeff snidely answered the phone. Jensen sighed in irritation, “No, but I need you to do something for me.” Jensen had avoided Jeff’s nosey texts on Sunday, then again all day today. He knew the older man was surely pissed.

Jeff bitched, “Could you have fuckin’ thrown me a bone, asshole? I was beginning to think the nice young accountant poisoned you, drained your health savings account, stole your gun and took off. Call me back, fucker, or text me a ‘fuck you’ next time.” Jensen sighed, “I’m sorry...really...but only for ‘that’, JD. I’m not gonna repeat our sex life for your entertainment.” Morgan chuckled, “Well well, so there’s a sex life...have a good time, did you?” Jensen rolled his eyes, ‘dammit.’ 

After Morgan promised to have a full length report on the investigations for Jensen in the next twelve hours, it was easier to sleep. It felt like he was actually ‘doing’ something and moving closer to getting Jared out of there. Jensen settled into the bed and tried to calm himself enough to let go for the night. It wasn’t easy. 

The next morning, Jared was greeted with a two foot stack of work. “What the hell happened?” He settled at his desk in a larger office, shared by the three main accounting experts. As Jared started to rummage through the files, another senior accountant stood in front of his desk and filled him in, “Dude, haven’t you heard?” 

Jared looked confusedly at Reiner, pretty much his ‘only’ favorite coworker. The other man continued, “Damian.” When Jared still looked clueless, Reiner explained, “Dude, you’ve been off too long. Damian’s gone. They canned him right after you guys got back from Singapore.” Jared sat back in shock, “What? Why?” His mind raced through the possibilities of some unforgivable mistake the guy might have made on that trip. The deal was huge, but Damian seemed on board. 

Reiner bent closer, encouraging Jared to lean forward, “What I heard was that they dropped you off and canned Damian in the car while they were driving him home...never even let him back in here.” Jared was stunned. “Jesus,” he looked down, thinking the whole thing over. Damian was in the company car when Barron had dropped Jared off at his townhouse. 

Jared looked up when Reiner continued, “I heard they caught him pulling files or something...using thumb drives and doing something with them. Some kind of security breech.” Jared tried to follow, but his insides were churning with acid. “Has,” he cleared his throat and tried again, “has anyone tried to talk to him?” Reiner argued, “For what? To get ourselves fired, too?” 

Jared looked put out, “Well, what if he’s not okay? It can’t be easy getting fired, did anyone even check? I mean, he’s pretty close with Noble over in HR and he’s got that group he went to lunch with from Legal.” Reiner stood with his arms folded, looking bothered. Jared assumed it was probably from his own failure at being concerned for their missing coworker. 

Jared immediately took out his cell phone and started scrolling through numbers. “What are you doing?” Reiner put his hand on the other man’s arm. Jared looked up in surprise, “What do you think I’m doing? I’m checking on him...and if he doesn’t answer, I’ll drive over there and see for myself.” 

Reiner leaned closer, pushing Jared’s hand to the desk so he would stop pushing numbers, “Jared.” When Jared looked up, Reiner voiced his concern, “That’s a company cell phone. Damian was doing something he wasn’t supposed to do...a fireable offense, obviously. What makes you think they’re not screening our usage...trying to see if anyone else was involved?” 

As Jared began to understand, Reiner added more, “Do you really wanna be associated with someone who was in trouble like that?” Jared stared at his coworker while letting that sink in. “I suppose not,” he finally accepted, sitting back against the chair and thinking it over. “Jesus, I hadn’t even realized.” He looked at his phone like it had burned his hand and dropped it on the desk. 

Jared’s mind raced through his texts to Jensen, his calls, a few calls to his parents and to a couple friends in New York. How much did they know? And did they even care since he was showing to be a trusted employee, so far? ‘Who was dating a cop,’ Jared’s inner voice just had to mention that. 

“Fuck,” Jared’s expletive prompted Reiner’s curiosity. Jared looked up at the raised eyebrow, “It’s just...I hadn’t realized they could do that.” At Reiner’s continued look, Jared sighed in annoyance, “What? I’m not stealing money and I’m not giving precious financial info out to anyone. Relax.” 

He hoped that would stave Reiner’s sudden paranoia. Jared certainly wasn’t offering that he was sleeping with a cop. ‘Shit,’ he mentally cursed, hoping to hell they didn’t know. He prayed that even if they knew about Jensen, they hadn’t even thought to suspect the ‘cop’ thing. The majority of the day went quietly, at least. Jared and Reiner bulldozed through account updates, entries and reconciliations. 

The owners didn’t appear until late afternoon, which gave Jared some blessed catch up time. He and Reiner had split most of the files between one another from Damian’s workload. “Hello Jared.” The accountant looked up and stood to greet his boss, “Hi Mr. Murray, how are you?” Jared was kind of glad it was the more pleasant of the two. 

“Quite good, actually. Did we let you rest enough?” Jared smiled, “Yes, thank you,” he looked down at the stack of completed work, “I was just working my way through these.” Chad Murray glanced at Jared’s finished stack, then at the two files he still had to work on, “You’ve made an incredible dent, kid. So, how’re Damian’s files, so far? Have you seen anything we need to be concerned about?” 

Jared paused, at first, a little caught off guard. “Uhm, I didn’t,” he nervously explained, “I mean I wasn’t...looking for anything, in particular, but...Reiner told me he was gone...did you want...” The millionaire smiled smoothly at his employee, as he interrupted, “I’m not worried, Jared. I know how bright you are and I have no doubt you’d notice any mistakes and quickly correct them.” 

Jared exhaled, not realizing he’d been holding his breath for a second, “Of course.” Murray added, “You’ll be sure and disclose anything you find that’s of concern...something that doesn’t quite sit right?” Jared nodded, sure there was a warning in there somewhere, even it wasn’t directly said. “Of course,” he nodded. 

Murray smiled, but it didn’t match his eyes. ‘It never does,’ Jared immediately thought. “Welcome back,” the boss delivered and walked off. Jared smiled nervously, “Thank you,” but the millionaire had already dismissed him. ‘Nothing,’ Jared thought to himself, ‘no explanation of their third accountant, no mention of anything.’ He quickly went back to work on his files, not leaving until he’d crossed every ‘t’ and dotted every proverbial ‘i’. 

Jared’s workload was clean. He stood and stretched, still feeling that lovely soreness in his ass. The fond memory made him smile. As Jared packed his laptop case and put on his jacket, the millionaires came out of their offices. Barron approached Jared this time, “Glad to see you back. I wasn’t sure if we’d over taxed you with that Singapore business.” 

Jared actually smiled naturally. This felt genuine, and he didn’t usually get that from this one. “Thanks for the rest, Sir, I appreciate it,” Jared responded. Barron smiled, just as smoothly as his partner had. It was an art, perfected over time. They could look interested, charmed, encouraging, or whatever they wanted, but Jared always watched their eyes for the true meaning behind it. 

Barron was being real for a second, but then his eyes changed to dissect mode. It put Jared on edge. “I think it’s important for you to know we appreciate your work, Jared. We’ve got a lot going on here, most of it vital and sensitive. I’ve had to deal with my share of ‘dishonesty’ quite a bit in this line of work...thievery...self serving indulgences. I don’t always expect it from my ‘in house’ employees, but,” Barron shrugged, “it happens.” 

The millionaire’s eyes remained on Jared for too long, which kind of pissed the younger man off. Jared hadn’t screwed them over and he didn’t have anything to do with Damian’s intentions, whatever they were. “I’m not sure what’s happened,” Jared responded carefully, “but I’m certainly not interested in ruining my integrity, nor losing my license. Is that what Damian did?” 

There, he’d asked them flat out. Barron smiled wider, but his eyes held the same cold calculation. Murray interjected, “Yes, Jared...he was leaking some figures, some big accounts. We watched him for awhile to try and determine where he was sharing it, but we’d finally seen enough.” Jared closed his eyes and looked down. He sighed, ‘How could anyone be so stupid.’ 

When he looked up, Barron slapped him on the shoulder, “Cheer up. We watch everything and everyone, though sometimes we don’t see it right away. We know you’re not involved.” Jared smiled nervously, “Of course not. I just...I’m disappointed anyone could be that stupid.” Jared shook his head, “I thought I liked him. What the hell was he thinking? For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” 

Murray hurried to soothe him, “No, now...that’s not necessary, Jared. He didn’t do too much. People do what they do sometimes and it certainly wasn’t your fault. Anyway, we’re gonna bring a replacement aboard next week. You and Reiner will have to share the brunt of everything in the meantime. For now, we need you in Tallahassee tomorrow. Be ready by noon, okay? We’ll leave from here.” 

As Jared stood with his guppy expression and nodded, the two men walked off, just as smooth as they had entered. ‘They never rush,’ he thought to himself, comically, ‘never freak out...never really laugh, either...they sort of just...glide.’ He was so busy thinking about his bosses, he missed Reiner stepping over to him. 

The fellow accountant slapped Jared on his back, “Way to go, dude. Stay off their radar.” Jared did a double take, “I don’t ‘need’ to stay off their radar, because I haven’t done anything to be on it.” Reiner held his hands up and backed a step, “Okay okay, just sayin’. Touchy, are we? He told me about tomorrow, too, so I guess we both have to go.” 

Jared muttered, “At least those trips are one day’ers,” while waiting for Reiner to grab his jacket and laptop case to walk out with him. The two men went to their cars and got ready to depart. As Jared sat warming his engine, he noticed the two millionaires were standing with their security team, discussing something. He swore the group looked over at him, then watched him for several seconds before turning back to their conversation. They were several yards away, but that look just felt off. 

Jared’s insides panicked. He tried to talk himself down, convince himself that he was overreacting because of what he knew from Jensen, but his nerves would not be thwarted. He decided he would use the next hour to get to a store and open up a private cell phone account. At least he would feel better about his private texts. 

Jensen didn’t pay much attention to the shortness of Jared’s text. The younger man was going to be there, and that’s what mattered. He signed in for the ninety minute court reservation, then went over to the bench to unload his racket and remove his sweats. Jensen had dressed in layers, not bothering with the locker room today. He had gone over the information Morgan found, then downed a protein shake, before getting ready for the gym. 

He glanced at the front door and didn’t see Jared, so he went into the court to warm up alone. The walls and door were a thick glass, so would at least see when the younger man sailed in. At ten after seven, Jared hurried over to the bench and peeled off some sweats. He stuffed them and a jacket into his bag, then took out his racket. 

Jensen had turned around just in time to enjoy the pleasant view of his racquetball partner quickly pulling his sweatpants off. He grinned at the site. The man was even adorable when he was stressed out about being late. Jensen didn’t care. He was too busy perusing the younger man from his hair to his toes. God, his memory of Jared’s looks didn’t do him justice. 

Jared quickly grabbed his racket and met Jensen’s eyes, as he entered the court. “Hi,” Jensen greeted him with a smile. Jared walked right up to him, said “Hi,” then kissed him. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he added, then went to take his side of the court while rolling his shoulders and arms to stretch. 

Jensen stared after him. Something was a little off, but he would have to get over his school boy giddiness at seeing Jared before he could try and pinpoint it. That kiss didn’t help matters. Jensen felt it to his toes. The younger man had worked all day, of course, and having to rush in and know you’re late was understandably upsetting, but something was different about him and Jensen couldn’t quite shake the feeling. 

“You okay?” The older man bounced the ball a few times, getting ready to serve, but still watched Jared closely. “Yeah,” Jared nodded, but he wasn’t convincing. He offered Jensen a partial sideways smile, but it was definitely for his benefit. Jensen hesitated, holding the ball still for a few seconds, “What’s wrong?” Jared’s eyes darted, only landing on Jensen a couple seconds, “Nothing, can we just play? I really need this.” 

“Sure,” Jensen proceeded to serve, against his insane curiosity at this new demeanor. He reminded himself he didn't know the younger man that well yet and he could be overreacting, but he watched him closely, anyway. Soon, both men became engrossed in the game. They didn’t keep score. They simply kept the volley going and didn’t worry about any official rules. That didn’t mean there wasn’t a natural competitive drive that kicked in and had them aggressively pushing themselves. 

The sweat started. The court heated up, as more vigorous rebounds and saves caused moods to loosen up. Jensen lost his grip, at one point, and his racket went sailing, which threw the younger man into hysterics after Jensen’s bellowed, “FUCK.” Jared laughed at himself when he completely missed the ball and it hit him between the eyes. Later on, both men went for the same ball and slammed hard into each other, falling back their asses. 

“Ow,” “Fuck,” both men grunted when they hit the floor. “Dammit,” Jared laid flat for a second. Both men took a few seconds before rolling to try and get up. Jared sat back on his heels and breathed hard, sweat pouring down his whole body. Jensen was facing him, sitting on his ass, one leg bent and supporting his elbow, “You okay,” he asked Jared. The younger man nodded, smiling with a sideways knowing grin. Jensen thought it was sexy, as hell, especially when Jared flicked his hair back. 

The younger man kept it to himself that he was secretly trying not to laugh at Jensen’s hair. The longer spikes were bent and pointing all different ways. Jensen still had his racket in his hand and held it up, “At least I didn’t lose it this time.” Jared smiled. Both men were dripping with sweat and panting with the exertion, but they broke into matched giggles again at their failure to play a more coordinated game. “Thank god no one’s filming this,” Jared grumbled between sucking oxygen.

After Jensen hopped back onto his feet, he held out his hand for the younger man to take it. He helped pull Jared to his feet, then suggested they take a break. There were no arguments from Jared. Jensen downed his water bottle, then wiped the sweat off his neck and face. He eyed Jared and watched the younger man gulp his water. ‘It’s like a damn commercial...fucking addicting,’ the older man thought to himself. 

“You’re watching me,” Jared’s annoyed comment interrupted Jensen’s thoughts. He started to deny it, but then gave in, “So sue me,” Jensen shrugged and looked away. He sat on the bench, heavily, realizing it had been a steady hour of cardio since Jared got there. “Not like I can help it Mr. ‘I’m going to upend my water bottle like a fucking porn star’,” Jensen muttered, then he sipped his own bottle. 

Jared choked next to him, not expecting that. He was still standing and had to bend forward and grab a towel to cough into, losing some of his water. Jensen had definitely caught him off guard. He struggled for air, finally leaning over with his hands on his knees. “Asshole,” Jared managed to respond, after finally clearing his airway. He didn’t even have the energy to blush. 

Jensen smiled at the young man. He hadn’t meant to choke the poor guy, but man an annoyed, sweaty, flushed Jared was hot as fuck. They soon went back to playing, but it was only five minutes into the rest of their time when Jensen halted it. He noticed Jared was a little unsteady on his feet, definitely not playing like he had been. “Jared?” Jensen called his name, but the accountant didn’t even get the chance to look at him and assure him he was fine. 

Jared put his hand over his head, as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Jensen dropped his racket and was there in an instant. He took hold of Jared’s upper arms, as he watched him struggle. “What wrong, are you dizzy?” Jensen’s voice was filled with alarm, as Jared moved his hand so the older man could look at him. He tried to nod ‘yes’ but the room was spinning. 

“Come on,” Jensen moved him steadily toward the bench. When Jared seemed to go weightless, Jensen caught him around the waist and pulled Jared’s left arm around his shoulders, “I got’cha.” They made it to the bench where Jensen turned Jared around and eased him down into a sitting position. Jensen took his pulse first, while Jared struggled to focus and take some deep breaths. 

What the hell was happening? Jensen finished with the pulse, then used both hands to gently push Jared’s face up so he could look at his eyes. The pupils looked fine. His pulse was a little weak for what they’d been doing. Jensen noticed Jared had stopped sweating, but he knew he hadn’t been dehydrated, as he’d seen him drinking a ton. “Did you eat anything today?” 

The younger man took a few seconds to think it over, in confusion, then finally answered, “I can’t remember.” Jensen sighed, “Well, if you can’t remember, that’s probably a no. Did you eat breakfast?” Jared looked at him for a few seconds, blinking, then nodded, “Yeah. My protein shake. I don’t remember the rest of the day. It was busy.” Jensen rested his hands on his knees, while he continued to stare at Jared for a moment. 

“Your color’s coming back. For a minute there, you went sheet white.” Jensen waited until it looked like Jared was over whatever spell had hit him, then he went over and grabbed Jared’s water. He handed it to the younger man, then started putting their supplies into the bags. Jared took a deep breath, drank some water, then finally felt like he was back to normal. He stood up, without warning, and Jensen grabbed onto his arms. 

Jared was frustrated at himself. This never happened. He stood for a moment, just to make sure nothing was spinning, then he looked guiltily at Jensen, “I’m sorry...that’s never happened before.” Jensen was still hanging onto his arms, but he let go when Jared turned to lift his bag. The older man watched him until he was sure Jared was moving okay. 

Jensen slung his own bag over his shoulder, then waited for the younger man to look at him. “I’m going to get you some dinner before you go home, okay? I think you’ve already amazed the guinness book by busting my ass on the racquetball court for over an hour on no fuel, guy. I’m gonna feed you...then we can talk.” 

When Jared looked at him in disbelief, Jensen explained, “Something happened today...it’s bothering you.” Jensen waited, daring him to deny it, but Jared eventually sighed in acceptance. He knew Jensen was right. Jared turned and walked toward the locker room, with Jensen following him because he certainly wasn’t going to go eat drenched in sweaty clothes. 

They showered very quickly, then put on their sweats and headed for the front of the gym. Jared sighed tiredly with his hand on the push bar of the front door and turned back, “So, where’r we going?” Now, Jensen knew this definitely wasn’t his Jared. The man was low blood sugar, sure, but he was even more openly cranky and on edge about something. 

Jensen picked a nearby sports bar that he knew served hot sandwiches and appetizers until ten p.m. His team had come here several times after work. Jared followed Jensen and by the time they got out of their cars, he realized his arms were like rubber. Jared was shaking from weakness. He carried it well, looking strong and muscular to the unaware bystander, but Jensen felt it when he put his hand on the younger man’s back. 

They both ordered hot roast beef sandwiches with au jou soup, and draft rootbeer on tap. Jensen recommended it. The rootbeer was made in house and it was to die for. When the drinks arrived, Jared sipped his, at first, then licked his lips and sucked a few more sips. “God, that’s good,” he caught his breath for a few seconds, then drank gulps of the sugary sweet liquid. 

Jensen smiled, glad that he loved it, but the worry in his eyes couldn’t hide the fact that he knew Jared had gone all day with no calories in his system. Jared closed his eyes, putting the glass down and feeling the sugar permeate his bloodstream. God, it felt good. He was feeling so much more alive than he had been. He put his elbows on the table and proceeded to rub his face and his hair, then finally looked up to see Jensen had been watching him. 

Jared looked down in shyness, then sighed. He finally met Jensen’s eyes. “Thank you. I’m sorry, I don’t normally act like such a weakling.” Jensen sipped his drink. His insides boiled at Jared’s self deprecating remark about himself but he didn’t say anything. He wanted to talk to him, hear about everything that happened today, and he didn’t think Jared would respond too well to a lecture. 

“You don’t ever have to thank me for anything,” Jensen said, “Just seeing you again makes my day.” Jared looked down in shyness again, this time because of Jensen’s remark. He grinned, showing his dimple, which brought the smile out on Jensen’s face. Jared looked up and barely tried to control the faint pink hue hitting his cheeks. Those intense greenish hazel orbs were pinned on him. 

“So, what do you want to know,” Jared went for a new subject. Before Jensen could answer, the accountant remembered something, “Oh, and what did you find out about the other companies?” Jensen set his drink down. He leaned closer toward Jared with his elbows on the table and folded his hands, “I’ve got a list of them for you...the ones JD could find, anyway. First, I wanna know what happened today.” 

Jared asked him, “Why do you think something happened?” Jensen studied the younger man, “Because it feels like something’s bothering you.” Jensen waited. Jared’s eyes darted for a few seconds. He really didn’t mind this, it was just disconcerting to be this instantly close to someone. Jensen was reading him and ‘shit’ they didn’t know each other that well. 

Jared cleared his throat, “Uhm, so, I guess the whole day was a little unnerving.” Jensen studied him closer, “Why?” Jared figured he couldn’t downplay anything, and even though it was nothing and he really didn’t think it was very exciting, he knew Jensen was expecting a full detailed explanation. He sighed. 

Jared told Jensen about the firing of his accounting partner, Damian. He explained what he knew from the conversations between he and Reiner. He told him they’d had to catch up all of the backlog, then about his bosses interactions with him. Jensen only glanced away once to grab a napkin from the dispenser. He asked Jared to spell Damian’s first and last name for him, then he asked Jared to guess at Damian’s age.

Jensen pulled out a pen from his pocket and wrote the information down, then put the pen and napkin in his pocket. He folded his hands and looked at Jared, waiting for him to continue. Jared explained his reason for being late. His trip to the cell phone store had taken a ridiculous hour. He was irritated as hell at the wait, but getting his own private device felt too important to let it go another day. 

Jensen stayed quiet for a minute, absorbing. This cell phone thing had him concerned. He was thankful his new lover was smart and took care of getting a new one right away. Their sandwiches arrived and Jared immediately started to dig in. He glanced at Jensen a couples times. He was curious what the cop was thinking, but Jared was too beyond starving to delay his meal. Jensen waited a couple minutes, then started to calmly pick up his hot sandwich and dip it. 

The detective was overcome with guilt at how spooked Jared had been about today. It was his job to protect people from harm, but his protective instincts toward Jared were taken to a whole new level. This was unacceptable to have an innocent young professional caught in the middle of something like this. Jensen only ate half his sandwich, then pushed it aside. He hadn’t been starving and this trip had really only been about making sure Jared got some food into him, anyway. 

Jensen pulled out a larger piece of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it, turned it around and slid it forward to show Jared. “This is the list of owned or partially owned companies found from all three investigations.” Jared glanced between the paper and Jensen. He was a bit startled, “Three? They were investigated three times?” Jared hadn’t understood it had been more than once. 

Jensen answered, “Yes, the last one ended six months ago...a few months before you got there.” Jared quickly finished his last bite and pushed the plate aside to look at the paper. He couldn’t wait. Jensen smirked at the huge last bite Jared’s mouth was struggling with, as he immersed his concentration in the list. He read through the list while wiping his mouth and absently drinking more of his rootbeer. 

Half way down, Jared’s mouth dropped, then he sat back in his chair with a frustrated sigh. He leaned forward to look closer once again, then leaned back again. “Fuck,” Jared closed his eyes and sighed. “What,” Jensen asked him. Jared looked up at him and explained, “The Garmin Label and Chesney are my two interviews from yesterday.” 

“What if they know I did that?” Jared searched Jensen’s eyes. “What if they know and they were waiting for me to be honest about it today? Fuck, Jensen, I should have told them. They said shit about honesty and...people working for them and...” Jensen stopped Jared by putting a hand on his arm, “Hey...these companies might be subsidiaries, but they might have just politely declined you without even telling them. That little scene today could have been only about Damian.” 

Jared sighed in frustration. He wanted to believe that, but dammit he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d screwed up somehow. Jared looked through the rest of the list and didn’t see any further recognizable companies, at least. ‘Thank God,’ he thought.

Jensen took a minute to think over Jared’s situation. He would be going back to work tomorrow and checking into Jared’s former coworker and tracking him down, hoping for a new angle, but until Jared found another job, this situation sucked. “Don’t go in tomorrow,” Jensen suddenly blurted out, though he somehow knew that wasn’t going to happen. 

Jared did a double take, “What? We’re going to Tallahassee tomorrow and there’s no skipping that. It’s their old hub. They like the Austin office for themselves, but a lot of their close associates are in Tallahassee. We’re usually back the same day. I’ll be home by tomorrow night.” 

Jensen sighed in frustration, “I just want to make sure this Damian isn’t laying in a ditch somewhere before you go back in there.” Jared argued, “I can’t just not go in. I’ll look guilty by avoiding them...and I’m NOT guilty. I haven’t done ‘anything’ to them.” Jared seemed to just realize what Jensen said, “Jesus, you think they did something to him? You think he’s dead?” 

Jensen quickly held his hand up, “No...I’m not sure of anything yet.” He hadn’t meant to blurt that out and cause the alarmed look on Jared’s face. “I’m sorry, Jared, it’s just if he winds up missing...” Jensen paused, as he watched the wheels turn in Jared’s eyes. ‘Shit,’ he shouldn’t have jumped the gun and scared him like that. 

Jensen rubbed his hand over his head and sighed. His numbers expert suddenly thought of something and spoke up, “Jensen, is there any way this is all just suspicion? I mean, yeah, they’re ruthless and cut throat. They swindle and negotiate with blatant bully tactics to get their deals sometimes, but you said nobody’s been able to prove anything criminal...could it be they’re just rich snobby assholes?” 

Jensen wanted to agree. He so wanted to be able to assure Jared that the feds, the DOJ and his own police department had been wrong about his bosses...he just couldn’t. Not now, not after what he found out today. Jensen closed his eyes for a moment to regroup. This wasn’t what he wanted, but he was going to have to do it. When he opened his eyes, Jared was still waiting with false hope. Jensen knew he needed to tell him. 

“I don’t want to tell you all the stuff Morgan found in the reports because I want you to feel safe. More than anything, I want you to feel safe. But Jared, there are things I can’t just blow off to ‘maybe’s’...I can’t just pretend that ‘maybe’ they’re not guilty. Now, you’re not doing anything wrong, like you said, and they seem to like you. They might be watching you, but the fact that they’re not gonna find anything is the only reason I can even ‘force’ myself not to interfere with you going back in there. It’s killing me, but I’ll wait...for now. I know you’re trying to get out.” 

Jared listened intently. He got a sinking feeling in his gut that Jensen had found out something more that he wasn’t going to like. He tried to be calm, as Jensen continued, “During the first investigation, there were bumbling mistakes made that identified the officers too soon. They saw some prostitution rings, busted some people, heard some things, but they never had a chance to get any big information. Second operation was a year later. After a few months, the officer made it to the security team.” 

“There were a couple businesses in New York that had reports of large groups of what people thought to be immigrants being shuffled inside basements and never coming back out. Your bosses frequented these places. The officer had reason to believe these were kidnap victims from other countries. When a warrant was granted for search, the places had been cleaned out hours before they got there. Large rooms with signs of holding people were found. Water bins, portable toilets, things like that.” 

Jared tried to visualize this horrible atrocity while Jensen continued. “There were four chartered planes that carried groups of people to St. Paul from New York during that search window. Witnesses saw groups of people being shuffled into vans from the planes in St. Paul. The witnesses were vague, and the pilots of those flights refused to say anything.”

“Your bosses went to a big meeting in Ottawa two days after those flights. The inside officer went too, finally gaining their trust. He wasn’t allowed in rooms, but he was in the hotel hallways. He managed to take a few pictures of people with coats over their heads and upper bodies being ‘assisted’ out of the rooms in the middle of the night. They were escorted into various vehicles outside and driven away.” 

Jared was silent, his eyes open wide with anticipation. Jensen had watched his face go from hopeful innocence to disbelief, then to painful acceptance. Jared definitely hadn’t expected all of this. The older man continued, “They traced as far as they could, but they couldn’t tie Barron and Murray directly to trafficking. Those people were sold in underground markets. One of the markets was broken up and arrests were made, but the highest money makers backed off so they couldn’t be implicated.” 

Jared tried not to show the emotion he was feeling. Those poor people. He couldn’t get past the evil it would take to sell human beings. This was who he was working for? He thought maybe he didn’t want to hear anymore, but Jensen kept going. This was the shit that tv shows were made of. When the two millionaires had come into Duns & Bradstreet to talk to him, Jared only saw them as highly successful real estate guru’s. This was utterly sickening. 

Jensen warned him softly, “There’s more, but only if you want to hear it.” He really didn’t want to lay this on the beautiful innocent man in front of him, but Jared nodded. He needed to hear it. Jensen continued, “There was a huge deal being made. At the final signing, this supposed third partner of theirs deposited several million dollars into his own secret account. The undercover man was told all of this by the other security. Again, Barron and Murray hadn’t quite decided to allow him inside the actual meetings yet.” 

“When your bosses found out what he’d done, the secret account was drained and deleted, along with the sudden disappearance of this partner. Barron and Murray fired a few people quick. They were overly suspicious of everybody, and they decided to like the undercover officer even less. Anyone they hadn’t known for at least ten years was reduced in rank and clearances.” 

“The officer was reduced to transporting and light security. He was still able to monitor several different packages that were well sealed and insured within three days of the disappearance. The packages were mailed to specific national and international addresses. The recipients turned out to be partners of Barron and Murray. The officer heard a heated phone call on speaker phone from one of the recipients.” 

Jensen hesitated a few seconds, then he watched Jared’s eyes as he reluctantly delivered the rest of what he knew. “The packages were body parts. They were dismembered pieces sent to their main business partners as an example not to screw them over.” Jensen stopped when Jared turned a little green. The look on his face was of morbid disbelief. Jared’s brilliant mind was trying to actually come to terms with something that horrible. The selling of humans was enough...this was just beyond his comprehension. 

Jensen thought Jared was probably done hearing the sordid details, but the younger man surprised him asking for more, “So, what happened in the third investigation?” Fortunately, there wasn’t much more, really. Jensen continued further, “The last one didn’t last long. A couple undercover’s tried to arrange a drug purchase. They met with someone lower on the totem pole, then someone a little higher up. When they were supposed to finally seal the deal with the two owners, someone on the inside of their company pegged them as cops. In the report, their false id’s were solid, so they knew it had to be a someone who knew the officers. Maybe a friend of someone in your office tipped him off, but they never figured it out. Anyway, your bosses dumped them quick and backed off. That was a few months before you started.” 

Jensen waited awhile for Jared to absorb that last part. In the last five minutes, he had watched the accountant’s face go from concentrated interest to shock, then to sickening realization and tired acceptance. Jared now knew what Jensen knew. The poor kid looked haunted, in addition to being tired. After a few silent seconds, Jensen said softly, “My offer is always open, I’ve got plenty of savings to help you out with your niece.” 

Jared’s eyes softened. This man was a dream come true. “I know....and believe me, no one’s ever done something like that for me, Jensen...I’m not taking it lightly.” Jensen sighed, “I sense a ‘but’ coming.” Jared smiled softly, “I may not be ready to let you give up your savings if there’s a chance I can pay for Jackie’s college on my own, but I promise I’ll take you up on it if I really have to. Right now, they’re understandably suspicious of everybody. I didn’t realize they’d been investigated so many times.” 

Jared looked down, “Rightly so,” he said in disgust. Jared looked back up at Jensen, “Let me try this until I find something. I’m already on my way out. I’ll admit the job hunting, keep their trust, and then I’ll get out as soon as I get hired. Hey, maybe they’ll fire me and I’ll have to get out.” Jensen sighed, knowing his cute accountant was trying to sound more chipper than he really felt. 

Jensen couldn’t find a specific immediate threat to Jared and it bothered him. This was too thick. Jared was too close to it. For now, he could see Jared’s point of going in honest and trying to keep their approval rating of him until he found other employment, but he’d much rather get him out now. 

Jared tried to change the subject, “So, does this mean I get to call you Jen?” Jensen looked at him in disbelief, “What?” Jared grinned, “The nickname. Don’t think I didn’t catch that.” Jensen gave a put out look, “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t call you anything.” Jared giggled, “Uh...yes you did, officer. You called me ‘Jare’, I was sitting right here.” 

Jensen watched him, glad he didn’t seem upset over it. He had to finally grin. Not only was Jared absolutely undeniably gorgeous, that giggle and the sparkle in his eyes were mesmerizing. “Okay okay,” Jensen feigned irritation, “so? It’s a cute nickname.” He shrugged, trying for non chalant, but then he asked, “Do you hate it?” 

Jared laughed softly, “Of course not. I could never hate it, you gave it to me.” Jared pointed out, “It’s only for you, though, no one else gets to call me that.” Jensen was happy to agree with that. There were quite a few things about Jared he would like to be only for him. Jared continued to smile, knowingly, as he added, “Jen,” which sparked Jensen’s own giggle. 

The two men went to their cars, Jensen walking Jared to his first. It was starting to rain again. Jared opened the door to his SUV and threw his gym bag inside. He turned to face Jensen and found himself quickly landing in Jensen’s arms. Jensen held him around the waist, with Jared’s arms automatically sliding around the older man’s shoulders. 

Jensen took a moment to stare into Jared’s eyes. “You know I’m following you home, just to make sure you get there safe,” he said. Jared hadn’t known, but be didn’t have the wits about him to argue that since he was too busy glued to Jensen’s gaze. “Oh,” was all he could come up with before Jensen kissed him. 

God, it had been too long. Jensen’s try for an easy good night kiss quickly turned into deep heated passion. He pushed his tongue into Jared’s mouth and instant sparks invaded his every nerve ending. The desperate hunger was overwhelming. He craved Jared’s taste, pushed into him harder, moaning at the younger man’s response. 

Jared reciprocated with every fiber of his being. Jensen’s mouth was intoxicating. He pushed back, eagerly exploring the hot wet cavern he’d been craving since Jensen had driven off night before last. Jared was desperation for this...he’d never felt such need before. 

They took their time, enjoying every taste, feeling raindrops hitting them before they finally tapered off. Jensen rubbed his hands all over Jared’s perfect waist, and up and down his back. Holding him felt amazing. Jared’s hands slid up and down Jensen’s chest, then slid down to his waist and slipped around it. They stood there softening the kiss until they ended up with foreheads touching, gazing into each other’s eyes. 

Jared smiled dreamily, then finally spoke, “So, when’s our third date, Ackles?” Jensen chuckled, feeling a little tipsy. “Not soon enough,” he grumbled. Jared continued to hold his gaze until both of them finally pulled apart. They stood there, holding hands for a few seconds longer. 

Jensen finally exclaimed, “It’s getting harder to let you go every time, you know.” Jared grinned, “I think so. Figure out what that means yet?” Jensen answered, “No...I have some ideas, but I’m waiting to gather all the evidence first.” Jared laughed softly, “Okay, I’ll help you gather that evidence.” Jensen reached up and brushed the hair back from Jared’s face. 

Jensen rubbed his thumb against the younger man’s cheek, “When can I see you again?” Jared answered, “Tomorrow’s iffy. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Thursday?” Jensen nodded, “Yes...definitely.” They kissed once again, then Jared turned to get in his car. Before Jensen shut him in securely, he leaned over and kissed him once more. “I’ll be behind you, just til you get in the house. You text me when you go to bed, okay?” 

Jared knew the older man was just worried. He nodded, “Okay. Can I text you tomorrow too? Maybe call?” Jensen smiled, “God yes. Tomorrow’s my first day back in shitsville...your voice will be just what I need.” Jared smiled. Jensen shut the door and went to his truck. He followed Jared to the front of his house and sat waiting until he was sure Jared made it inside. 

Once Jared had gone in through the garage and waved to him from the front door, Jensen pulled away. He stewed through his whole four mile stretch to his home. Damn, Jared was still in that place. “Please be careful,” Jensen muttered to himself, his comments meant for Jared, as he finally wound down enough to get in bed.


	8. CHAPTER EIGHT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jensen returns to work and jumps into a workload that’s neverending. Jared has been in the same boat. They deal with new feelings becoming stronger, a little time apart, and both deal with dangers in different capacities. Jared never asked for this, and he learns more he didn’t want to know. Jensen will be heading to check out Jared’s former coworker soon.

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

The next day proved to be hell on wheels for both men. Jared’s bosses had moved their flight up to eleven, which gave Jared only three hours to become an expert on the four contracts they were meeting over. This had been Damian’s expertise. It wasn’t familiar, but Jared bulldozed his way through the history, fluctuations in stock and where everybody was at right now. He wondered why Reiner wasn’t splitting this with him, but apparently he’d been given all the tax loopholes to worry about. 

They packed their supplies and climbed into the company car. Jared and Reiner didn’t ride with the head honcho’s. Their limo could be seen ahead of them. The middle sized private charter got them into Tallahassee by two thirty, and after minimal safety delays they were soon shuffled to the main hub. 

Jared had been here several times. It was an older building with no public access. They always pulled around back and got out there. Jared was used to some of the faces, as he and Reiner were escorted to their familiar meeting rooms. Everyone was pleasant enough, but they all had that distrusting gleam in their eye. Jared wondered how different it would be to actually work for more honest people when he finally got the chance to. 

From there, the meetings went for hours. By six thirty, Barron had ordered in a spread of salads and sandwiches for everyone. Jared scarfed his. It was delicious. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast. His untouched lunch sat back in the Austin office fridge. He only just realized, that he hadn’t even had time to talk to Murray about his job applications today. They still didn’t know. ‘Fuck,’ the day had sped by. 

Jensen’s first day back hadn’t been any less taxing. He pulled in by seven to find his normal detective’s car had been rolled in a chase. The old timer was finally wrecked and set up for deadline. Jensen wasted an hour of his day debating with the city auto yard about which vehicle to use for his next assignment. He supposed he was getting old and too set in his ways. 

JD stood next to him, as Jensen brooded over the smashed up crown vic in the yard. He felt like it was looking at him, sad that he’d even left it unattended for five days and allowed the millennial assholes from vice to borrow it. ‘Damn, they didn’t respect anything,’ Jensen thought. Jeffrey slapped a hand on his shoulder, “You’ve been together a long time, dude. Your ass imprint’s in that seat, the seatbelt’s always gonna have the mark of being in the same spot, that radio mike is hooked just where you wanted it, and the smell...” JD shook his head, “beef jerky farts.” 

Jensen sighed, “This sucks.” Morgan hung around until Jensen decided on an Impala. “At least it’s a hybrid and not one of those electric pieces of shit, bro,” Jeff tried to cheer him up. Jensen mumbled his agreement and slipped into the car to adjust everything where he wanted it. At least it was kind of roomy. He supposed he would get used to it. 

The two men grabbed triple espresso’s and went through a couple cases their teams had been working on together. Morgan had kept a good eye on his team, it was obvious. Jensen helped him close up some evals, then they both hit a briefing for the narc’s boys who were asking for supplemental help. Apparently, there was a huge task force ready to pounce on some meth labs in the upcoming week. 

Jensen had been checking his phone throughout the day, but no messages from Jared since his ‘good morning’ text at six a.m. Jensen had dropped the napkin with Damian’s info with a records clerk earlier. He planned on checking with them as soon as this briefing ended. He figured Jared’s day was probably as busy as his was, but he wasn’t going to let that check on the ex-accounting employee go. 

Jensen sent a text to his new lover, asking if he was ok. Around three, Jared finally answered him with a ‘yes, still in Florida, prob be late, sucks, you?’ Jensen was almost embarrassed to admit how elated he was at that simple text. He realized how brutal it was, waiting to hear from someone you found yourself quite enamored with and wanted to be with all the time. He wasn’t used to feeling this way. 

Jensen grinned on the inside, but forced a grimace on the exterior, just to counter those sparks of joy for everybody’s benefit around him.Jensen glanced over to see the JD grinning knowingly at him. “What,” Jensen barked, then turned back to his phone adding, “shut up,” under his breath. Morgan chuckled, knowing full well who Jensen was talking to. 

“This is too much,” Morgan muttered under his breath, knowing no one around them understood the comment. Jensen rolled his eyes and sighed, however, glancing over at him again, then returned his attention to the briefing. He sent a quick response to Jared that the day also sucked, but okay, but added a ‘careful’ in there just because of where Jared was. 

The rest of the afternoon involved Jensen calling a team meeting to schedule assignments and exchange any updates. Apparently, it was a perfect time to open a surveillance on some chop shop activity so after that was scheduled, his team suited up for a long night. They ate dinner together first, then took perimeter positions. Jensen didn’t just direct, he participated this time. Jared wasn’t going to be home until late, and he hadn’t done this in a long time. It felt good to be on the street with his team. 

Morgan’s team flanked, while watching their own neighborhoods of interest. Tonight was an anti-theft night, they decided. Twelve officers were planted in streets with a recent string of house burglaries, the other ten were planted and waiting for their auto theft ring to hit. Surveillance could be boring as shit, but change to a dangerous pursuit in a heartbeat. It was like getting all dressed up and waiting for twelve hours for absolutely nothing, but if you let your guard down, that’s when something happens. 

At any rate, the teams were tired of homes getting hit and vehicles disappearing in their beats. They were hell bent on catching some assholes tonight. Jared sent a text that he was getting on the plane at nine. “Fuckin a,” Jensen bitched out loud to himself. No one was in the car with him to hear it. Those pieces of shit were exhausting his lover again. Jared was probably barely running on fumes.

Jensen text back ‘please let me know when you land and get home?’ This sucked. He was worried shitless, but glad the younger man didn’t seem to mind his bit of mother henning. Jared’s ‘ok’ response gave a a bit of comfort. He was beginning to worry about Jared pretty much 24/7. 

Records handed him the list of known addresses, drivers license and some background on Damian as he was on his way out earlier. He’d already studied it and was planning to drop in tomorrow morning. The accountant apparently lived way across town, far out of Jensen’s beat. He wouldn’t be able to get back to his team in a pinch if something went down. 

‘Speaking of,’ Jensen darkened his phone while sitting on an adjacent corner, three streets from his main team. Three clicks over the radio signaled that someone had eyes on a suspect in the neighborhood. Jensen waited to find out which officer it was. Jensen felt his phone vibrate. He clicked it on two way and instantly connected with Danero, one of his people. 

“Sarge.” Jensen answered, “Go.” Danero filled him in, “one male...dressed in dark, clothing, hoodie, gym bag, lookin over fences. Watching and waiting. Dispatch is calling residents to stay inside.” Jensen responded, “Addresses?” Danero listed three, “seventy four thirty, thirty two and thirty four...he’s checked over all fences, probably lookin’ for dogs.” 

Jensen copied the update. Looking at his grid map, he could see Danero’s position was only two houses from the suspect. He was proud of his team. They’d trained this way. Their radio frequencies caused a disturbance in some cell phones and it had tipped off suspects before, so they used their two way app with dulled noise whenever they needed radio silence. 

When the suspect climbed broke the lock on a gate and entered the back yard, Jensen’s team told him they were moving in. Jensen left his corner and pulled his blacked out vehicle to an adjacent house where he could eye six of his team moving closing in on the burglar. 

Jensen rolled his windows down and listened. There wasn’t a sound this time of night. All of a sudden, shattering glass preceded several screams of ‘get down’ and ‘show me your hands’. Jensen immediately took off trotting to their location. He listened until he took cover, waiting with baited breath. 

There were no gun shots. ‘Thank god,’ he secretly celebrated, not having to deal with that. The suspect was apprehended, a duffle bag of burglary tools and several pieces of jewelry with some wads of cash were on him. Jensen’s team knew there had been over twenty five homes broken into within a two mile radios in the last two months. He figured this guy was probably in the center of it. 

The homeowners weren’t even that upset about the smashed slider door, they were so ecstatic the burglar had been caught. Apparently, they’d been hit twice. Jensen prayed they had the only thief. You never knew. He called this a ‘win’ with everyone in one piece and grateful citizens. 

Six of his team went back to the office to book all the property and fill out the supplementals, transport showed up and took the suspect to jail. They would be there for a few hours, then go home. Jensen two way’d Morgan and let him know. The older man grumbled that their car thieves were lazy tonight, but his team was gonna keep at it. 

Jensen offered to come join the other team and at a quarter to midnite, Morgan’s team went hot. ‘Must be you,’ Morgan grumbled on Jensen’s two way, commenting on Jensen’s luck at being with them. Radio traffic sparked instantly when two career auto thieves popped the ignitions and took off in RFID tagged cars so fast, detectives had to floor it to give chase. 

Two pursuits engaged at the same time. One thief went southbound, the other went west. Jensen followed JD’s lead and stayed about four cars back, letting his detectives stay in point position. As a supervisor, you had to keep your eye on how many chase cars were causing more problems by clogging up the lanes. They flew down major streets, Jensen following one group, Jeff Morgan the other. 

Something nagged at Jensen about the way this was going. The direction each thief was heading made no sense. One was basically heading for the lake, the other for the airport. ‘Wait a minute,’ Jensen immediately pulled out of the chase and turned around, heading back toward the parking lot where they’d started. Jensen clicked his radio, “JD, get somebody back to ground zero. They’re leading us away from something.” 

Jensen heard a responding “FUCK” as Morgan understood his thinking and immediately turned around. He would ‘never’ think twice about following Jensen’s lead. The two of them were damn good at what they did. “Casteen, Baker, head back, head back, they’re baiting us, I’m headed back with Sergeant Ackles.” Two of Morgan’s team instantly made u-turns and headed back to the lot. “Black out,” Jensen ordered over the radio channel, as he descended upon the lot first and noticed what was happening. 

The four detectives slowed to a crawl, coming toward the large retail lot from different angles. They parked on opposite sides and watched. There was a semi in the middle of the parking lot that hadn’t been there before. “Unfuckingbelievable,” Jensen muttered in awe. These were smarter than average criminals. That’s why it had taken nine months to finally catch the mother fuckers. Jensen reminded himself that they hadn’t been caught...just yet. 

He exited his car, crouching to a near crawl with his gun out. Jensen spotted a large electric box behind a fence and headed for it, close to the ground. He spotted JD across the lot. The older man was on his stomach, inching his way over the pavement until he reached a concrete base of a lamp pole and sat leaning against it. Jensen looked to his left and spotted two more dark shadows out and approaching from different angles. 

When everyone was covered, Jensen left his spot and moved again. This time, he ran silently until he reached the truck. He slid under it, landing on his stomach and pausing. He could hear voices, but they were muffled. Morgan’s two team members closed in from their positions, finding cover adjacent to Jensen. Morgan came in from the right and landed behind another concrete barrier. 

Suddenly, the four detectives pressed themselves flat against wherever they were when three men came out of the back of the semi and walked down the ramp. “Here, you take these,” one of the men ordered then handed two license plates to another man. He then handed two to the third man and the three walked out into the parking lot. Jensen had to look at Jeff. He couldn’t believe their luck. It was dark as shit out, but Jensen knew his friend had to be smiling. 

The cops waited it out a few minutes. The three men began removing license plates from vehicles parked in the lot and replacing them with the ones in their hands. After this was done, they took the removed plates back into the truck. The group soon returned with some ignition popping tools and slim jims. They proceeded to open all six cars and got as far as punching the ignition keyholes when each man was told to “freeze.” 

Chills went down each of the suspect’s spines, with the immediate desire to fight and flee, but the guns pointed at them made their decisions. “Drop it,” Jensen’s command was matched by two other officers at the other vehicles. Morgan left a fourth guy back a little. The perp’s dropped their punch out tools, for which Jensen commended his, “Good thinking...Austin PD, you’re under arrest for stolen vehicles, grand theft auto, and any other felonies I can find. Back out of the car slowly with your hands up.”

Each officer kept control of the three suspects as they complied and ended up laying on the ground with their hands out. Morgan’s backup officer watched all three detectives as they searched and handcuffed their felons. Jensen’s suspect had baggies of white powder in his pockets. One of the other suspects had some too and several sets of car keys. Obviously, they’d been on a roll tonight, which meant lengthy paperwork. 

Jensen’s phone vibrated, but he had to put his suspect in a transport car before he could check it. It was Jared. ‘Landed. Going to office.’ Jensen sighed. Jared was back in Austin. This had been a good night, so far, but he wouldn’t relax until Jared was safe in bed. At least he was close by. ‘Busting some a-holes. Fun police work doesn’t hold a candle to being with you.’ Jensen really hoped that return text hadn’t sounded corny. He hoped it made Jared smile. 

Jared fell asleep on the plane. When they landed, he had to be waken up by Murray, as everyone got their things and exited. No one spoke. He heard Barron talking to the pilots, but it was mumbled. Jared figured everyone was tired. The car ride to their office was only twenty minutes. Jared yawned all the way there. Truth be told, he wouldn’t be so damn tired if it weren’t for correcting Reiner’s mistakes all damn day. What the hell was wrong with the man? 

From what Jared knew about him, Reiner was a first class accounting major with fifteen years at the company. These dealings took expertise, but Jared wasn’t seeing it. He wasn’t sure if Reiner had been doing this all along, or whether it just started. Annoying as shit today, though, whatever the reason. Jared kindly made the corrections and didn’t tell the bosses. Reiner was nice to him. He didn’t want to be the cause of him getting yelled at, or fired. ‘Or worse,’ his mind wandered. 

Jared had to admit, there were chunks of money running back and forth today but he saw nothing but investments, capital gains and bank returns. He never saw any blank cash deposits or weird suitcases of unmarked bundles. He’d formulated two major contracts, too, and nothing in them mentioned off shore shipments or strange terminology. He thought maybe they had code words for the humans they sold...or for the drugs or whatever else they were into. They didn’t have any prostitutes in their meetings. 

Jared realized he was probably thinking too much. They weren’t going to do anything in front of him and he should count his blessings. When he got into the company car with Reiner, he sent a text to Jensen that they’d landed. Jensen’s return text made him smile. Out of this whole shitty day, he could still get a happy feeling of peace with just a few words from Jensen. 

Reiner noticed the look, then glanced to Jared’s phone. He focused on it for a second, then on Jared in disbelief, “You get a new phone?” Jared nodded, then sleepily put the phone in his pocket and settled into the back of the seat. He sensed Reiner staring at him for a little longer than necessary, but maybe it was just his imagination. Jared was too tired to care. 

He got his car and made it home. He jumped in the shower, feeling the blessed heat melt the horribly long day away. He quickly washed and dried, then slipped under the covers naked. Jared was too tired to put anything on. He quickly text Jensen ‘goodnite, cold without you,’ then fell fast asleep within seconds.

Jensen’s team was still booking property when he got back to the office. He and Morgan split up after their arrests. Morgan headed over to one of the pursuits who rolled over and caused a major traffic fiasco. Jensen closed up what he could and offered for Morgan to sleep in and leave anything he needed him to do for tomorrow. He explained he was checking out a former coworker of Jared’s, then he would be in and handle whatever leftovers were needed from their active night. 

Jensen checked his phone in the car. His favorite accountant ‘did’ text him from bed. This eased Jensen’s anxiety several notches. Tomorrow, he would hit this Damian’s address and see what he could find. Jensen answered with ‘your bed won’t be cold tomorrow nite, sleep Jare,’ then headed home. 

Jared slept so hard, he woke up in the same position. His cell phone alarm went off at six, the device still laying loosely under the hand he used to text Jensen goodnite. Jared moaned while painfully rolling onto his back and laying there for several minutes. He struggled to wake up. God, he hoped today went better. He was exhausted. Of course, he still needed to tell Murray or Barron about his job applications. 

Jensen grumbled to himself, climbing his way out of sleep. The incessant piercing alarm was screaming at him from the side of the bed. “Fucking asshole,” he slammed his hand down on the device, figuring he probably broke it. Damn, he felt old. It couldn’t possibly be six o’clock already. 

Jensen’s morning got better after a shower and caffeine. He grabbed his over shirt and headed for the county car. Jeff called overnight and left a voice mail. He and half his team didn’t get home until four a.m. so they weren’t coming in until noon. He asked Jensen to keep an eye on things until he got there. 

Jensen’s first stop would be Damian. He hadn’t received any texts from Jared, but he figured the younger man was probably barely coherent and dealing with getting his own tired ass to work. The freeway was a mess. Jensen didn’t usually have to go this way, but Damian’s driver’s license had an address at least thirty minutes away. 

Jared couldn’t believe it. When he walked into the office, there sat a long table filled with hot breakfast foods. His stomach growled angrily. Jared hadn’t eaten before he left home. He wasted no time throwing his coat and laptop on his desk and grabbing a plate. 

Breakfast was delicious. Some of the staff was still shovelling it in when Murray arrived. “Hello all, I see you found breakfast. We figured everyone might need it this morning, and tonight was a successful one,” he added, then headed for his office. Jared’s fellow coworkers all grunted and nodded their return thanks and greetings as the millionaire closed his office door. Jared knew they’d made a mint off of yesterday’s contracts. This buffet was just a small celebratory indulgence. 

After he ate, Jared unpacked his computer and went to work sorting out yesterday’s deals. He entered the data into the banking system and scrolled over everybody’s details, just to make sure there weren’t any numbers off. ‘There it is again,’ he bitched to himself. ‘What is his problem?’ Jared glanced over at Reiner and sighed. This was frustrating. There was another mistake that Jared hadn’t caught last night. He quickly fixed it and moved on. 

Jared noticed Murray’s office door open and figured now was as good of a time as any to spill the beans. ‘Here goes,’ he thought, and asked if he could have a couple moments of the man’s time. Jared was at least glad it was the nicer of the two. After sitting in front of the man’s desk for a couple minutes, Jared found himself suddenly a lot more nervous than he had intended. The millionaire was watching him. 

“You’ve got the floor, kid. What did you want to talk about?” Jared used his resentment to build some backbone. He hated the way these men intimidated people. He didn’t think Murray was doing that right on purpose right now, but it didn’t matter. It always felt like some little piece of their personality enjoyed the hell out of it when they made people nervous. That pissed Jared off. He hadn’t realized how much until just now. 

“Well, you’ve both been so good to me...and you paid for me to move here. I hadn’t realized when you hired me that we’d be flying all over the place. After Singapore, I felt like that part of flying all over the world in a pinch wasn’t a good fit for me. I searched around on line for some available accountant jobs elsewhere. When I did it, I really didn’t think anything would pan out, so I didn’t tell you. A couple of them responded, but it’s okay because they didn’t hire me. I just didn’t expect it to go that far, at the time.” 

Murray remained silent, so Jared continued, “Nothing’s come of it yet, but I wanted you to know that I did search around.” Still silence. “And I’m sorry for not saying anything a few days ago. I needed to tell you I was looking, that’s all, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to continue to work hard and do everything you need from me. If I find something else, I didn’t want it to be a surprise.”

Now Jared’s butterflies turned to a full set of vampire bats in his stomach. He had no idea what the millionaire was thinking. He thought he worded that quite well, but you never could tell what these poker faced men were thinking. Jared’s eyes darted for a few seconds. He waited for Murray to respond. 

He had nowhere to run, nothing could help him back out of what he’d just done. Jared sat there, nervously adjusting his seat and waiting. Murray sighed deeply. He stood up and walked around the desk with his hands behind his back. Murray turned toward the mantle of the small fireplace in his office and sighed once more. Jared stopped breathing. 

Unbelievably, Murray turned around and stepped toward Jared with a pleasant grin. He looked at Jared with fondness for a few seconds before actually speaking, “Jared, I like you...and I especially like your honesty. I appreciate the work you’ve done for us...and I know we aren’t an easy bunch. You hit the ground running and never complained once.” He paused, staring at Jared for a second, considering, “I guess if you’d be happier someplace else, then we have to accept that. I wish you’d come to me, though. Maybe we could have cut back on the travel, see if that made a difference for you, but if you’ve got some pending interests waiting for your applications then maybe it’s too late.” 

Murray looked at Jared with question in his eyes. The accounting expert felt put on the spot. Now what did he do. Was Murray willing to cut out the overseas trips? ‘Fuck,’ Jared needed out, but the excuse he was using was starting to weaken. “Uhm...well, no they’re not really solid yet, I think maybe they’re going to interview me, that’s it. But, Mr. Murray, I really need to stay local. Something that doesn’t fly around is what’s best for me. You shouldn’t have to change your expectations. I promise you, I’ll pay you back every cent you paid to get me here...but my parents aren’t that far from here and they’re kind of in failing health. It’s imperative to have something a little more predictable, at least for that reason.” 

“Mmm,” Murray nodded, thinking it over. He looked Jared over, considering, “It’s understandable...ailing parents, and all, staying local, I get that...and you’re right, it wouldn’t be perfect for us to simply give up our expectations to have accounting staff with us at all our meetings.” Jared sensed a ‘but’ coming but he said nothing. 

Murray sighed and looked down. He moved to another visitor’s chair, pulled it around to face Jared, then sat down. Jared’s insides twisted up when his boss leaned his elbows on his knees and met Jared’s eyes. He hadn’t expected this. Murray seemed a little reluctant to say what he was about to, so he took a bit to think it over first. 

“I wasn’t going to bring this up now...in fact a long time from now was the plan, but it seems this is going to have to be said. I’d like to keep you Jared. We’ve had many employees over the last two decades and we know quality. You’re above the meter read on that.” 

Jared managed to say “thank you” but still waited on edge. Murray looked down again and sighed, then back up at Jared, “We have a problem with Reiner. I know you’ve noticed. There’s no way you haven’t. The fact that everything submitted lately has been absolutely perfect tells me you’re correcting for him.” 

Jared stiffened. Jesus christ, he didn’t know what to say. “I,” his eyes darted, “I don’t,” Jared was interrupted, gladly, since his brain didn’t seem to work. “It’s okay,” Murray interjected, “I get it, Jared. You’re a nice guy, helping someone, but that’s gotta be annoying. Tell me...how bad is it and how much are you doing for him?” 

Jared felt nervously overwhelmed, did he tell the truth? “Well...I mean, what’s gonna happen to him?” ‘Please don’t kill him,’ he was secretly thinking. Murray sighed, “Jared, we can’t have people in here that either one, can’t do numbers or two, are leaking our banking and contract information to the outside. Now, Reiner was instrumental in us releasing Damian. He’s the one who drew our attention to it. You, on the other hand, he seems to rave about, like and he tells us about the more complicated larger jobs that you like but are afraid to ask us for.” 

Jared looked in disbelief, “What?” Murray said, “Reiner’s been telling us about how nice you are to work with...he tells us we should be giving you much more responsibility but that you don’t want to ask for it because it’s been his for so long. Is that not true?” Jared’s face was an open book. “So, I take that as a ‘no’,” Murray said, “Interesting.” 

Jared argued softly, still in shock over this, “Look, I do like the work...but it’s all of it. I like all the accounts because they’re all complicated. A few of Damian’s were new for me, but I’ve got them down now. Yes, I like them, but I’ve only been here a little over three months and I really haven’t had time to think about begging for anything further. It’s not like it isn’t busy.” 

Murray nodded, now highly perturbed about this new information on Reiner. He wasn’t only making mistakes and hiding them, he was lying. Jared remembered Reiner’s instant fascination with his new cell phone. He also knew Reiner was always the one to fill him in on business partners and on Damian’s firing, plus he always told Jared where they were going before the bosses did. 

Jared’s mind landed on the idea that Reiner was a meddler, spreading the office gossip, but now his thoughts deepened to ‘what if Reiner wasn’t on ‘anybody’s’ side? If he knew he sucked, he might have been trying to get Damian to cover for him all this time...with Damian gone, he’s started in on me.’ 

“I haven’t been doing Reiner’s work until the last few days,” Jared started in, “So, before now, I have no idea. On yesterday’s deals, though, there were some pretty significant mistakes. I didn’t understand why he made them because a long time accounting expert would have known better. I corrected them. I never would have even looked his stuff over that closely since he’s been here so long, but,” Jared shrugged, “I was closing up the files and entering it all into our bank information and it needed to be right. It bothered me, but I just thought maybe he was having a bad time or maybe tired. Headache? Anything.” 

‘Please don’t kill him,’ Jared’s mind raced through possibilities while Murray seemed to think something over. Finally, the millionaire nodded and stood up, “Well, this has been an unexpected meeting...turn of events, so to say.” He walked to the mantel and stood facing away from Jared for a minute. When Murray sighed, Jared held his breath until the other man turned around, “I appreciate your honesty, Jared. We’ll deal with Reiner and it won’t have anything to do with you. If something becomes solid and you want to take another job offer, please keep us aprised so we can plan. Obviously, we’ll have a shortage in the accounting department for a little while.” 

Jared instantly worried about Reiner, “Uhm...so, are you going to fire him? I mean, maybe I can work with him...see where he’s making mistakes and help him. He’s been here so many years, it’s,” Jared stopped when Murray snickered. The millionaire shook his head, looking at Jared in disbelief, “You really think to help out?” Jared paused, as Murray walked toward him. 

“Jared,” Murray’s eyes drilled into him, “he’s backstabbing you. He’s a betrayer...and he’s been doing this for awhile.” At Jared’s confused look, his employer explained, “You aren’t the first. We’ve let other accountants go on his word. He’s fed us copies of other’s work, showed us phone records, leaks. He was the one who pegged Damian as a breech. How many people were just refusing to do his work for him, Jared?” 

Jared’s silence proved he’d been stunned by this. Murray continued, “In our business, you usually take partners’s hand-me-downs or favors. We’ve had accountants from other partners before. They’re experienced, they know the work, so they’re comfortable...at least for awhile. Then you start to see them screwing you over...then you corroborate and find they’re screwing you ‘both’ over. We thought this time we would be new, different, and pick from the outside. Somebody fresh and new, unbiased, with no connections. That was Damian, and that was you. Losing Damian was a sore spot we didn’t expect, so we foolishly looked at you right away...ran your work.”

At Jared’s uncontrolled look of panic, Murray soothed him, “You’re clean. You’re good Jared, relax. Even Reiner said you were top notch. What I’m saying is...we never would have thought to check ‘Reiner’.” Murray sighed, “He’s probably been covering for himself for a number of years.” Jared’s insides relaxed that he wasn’t about to be killed on the spot, but he wasn’t clear on what they would do to Reiner. 

He wondered what they’d think, now, of Damian, “So...I mean, has anyone heard from Damian? Maybe he could tell you anything he knows about Reiner.” ‘There,’ Jared thought, ‘maybe I can help figure something out for Jensen.’ Jared had a seconds thought that the older man had specifically ‘adamantly’ told him to NOT snoop around with these murderers, but this was a different situation. Jared hadn’t expected this conversation to go this way. 

Murray looked like he was avoiding a direct answer to that question. Jared had never seen him do that before. “No,” he got up and walked around his desk to the other side, “we really don’t keep in touch with people once we let them go.” Jared cleared his throat, “Oh,” then started to feel more determined about this, “Does he live in town? I could go over there for you...see if he’s willing to tell his opinion.” 

“Jared,” the younger man focused on his employer, reacting to the sternness in his voice. Murray folded his hands and leaned his elbows on the desk, holding Jared’s gaze, “This isn’t your concern any longer. You are to stay out of it now. We know you’re clear, and we know who is not. Damian wasn’t a saint. Reiner might have set him up, but there were a few things he did on his own. You are ordered not to care about this. We’ll handle it. Go back to your work and let me know if you get another job. Again, I am impressed with your work ethic, so just focus on that.” 

Jared nodded, knowing damn well he’d been dismissed. This was the boss he was used to...the cold cut no nonsense personality. He was sure, however, that Barron wouldn’t have even been so personable. Jared got up and started to exit Murray’s office, then turned back at the thought of something, “Didn’t you say there was a new accountant coming?” 

Murray’s expression changed to more hopeful, “Yes...yes, you’re right, there is. Next week. And he’s from one of those other partners I told you of...he’s experienced so hopefully an easy transition.” Jared nodded, faking a soft smile for his bosses’ benefit. He turned and exited the office. 

‘Damn,’ he wondered if he should text Jensen. Reiner might be in danger. Jared didn’t owe the backstabber any favors, but he didn’t want to see the man get his ass kicked or throat slit or some horrible atrocity that he’d seen in too many movies. Murray had been angry when Jared offered to go see Damian. He wondered what had happened to the man.


	9. CHAPTER NINE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More things are coming to light about Barron and Murray. Jensen finds out something he didn’t want to know. Jensen is supposed to see his new lover tonight, but that gets delayed. Jared’s just as unhappy about it. His conversation with Murray over looking for other jobs is a little unnerving, to say the least.

CHAPTER NINE 

Jensen finally turned into the neighborhood ninety minutes later. What a disaster traffic had been. Two fender benders, ten thousand look-e-loo’s and a double trailer jack knife. It seemed fate was trying to keep him from this Damian’s place. Jensen cruised by several houses, some duplexes, then arrived at an apartment complex. 

‘Huh,’ his confused brain registered. The known address on Damian Wilkenson’s driver’s license didn’t have an apartment number. Jensen had assumed it was a house. He drove around the street, taking a couple curves, inspecting every house and mail box. “Where the hell is it?” 

Jensen started over again on the short street multiple times. The addresses skipped. They went in succession up to the number he was looking for, then jumped to the next one, then ended up right back at the apartment complex. The address he was looking for just wasn’t there. ‘Dammit,’ Jensen sat with the engine idling for several seconds, staring at the property line between two homes, almost willing an imaginary house to be there. 

Jensen parked at the end of the street and looked over the man’s rap sheet. He looked at the other known addresses. They were older, in other cities. After several minutes of studying the area, looking at the compilation of a few dui’s and court fees for unpaid parking tickets, Jensen realized what the hell he was looking at. 

“Son of a bitch,” his anger exploded. Why hadn’t he seen it sooner? On the last entry, there was a code used that was very subtle and wouldn’t be of any concern to a business checking someone’s record. Jensen knew exactly what it was...this record was a fake. He hightailed it back to his department. Luckily, traffic wasn’t so bad going the other way. 

He called Major Crimes on the way, looking for a sergeant that he knew to be in charge of the last undercover op on Jared’s company. The man was there, but he was on the phone. Jensen told the secretary to let him know he was enroute and that it was important. Jensen pulled into the parking lot and grabbed a visitor’s spot, not wanting to waste time. He grabbed his paperwork on Damian and went upstairs. 

Major’s was on the fourth floor, opposite side of the building as his own unit. When he made his way through the thick glass doors and past the receptionist, Jensen immediately noticed a couple heads turn. This was a quieter unit than his own. They handled all the bigger crimes, such as bingo rings, internet child crimes, id fraud, and larger combined operations with the FBI. Jensen had worked here for a year before he got promoted so he was familiar with the team. 

The sergeant was just opening his office, looking like he was headed out, when Jensen confronted him, “Hello Banks, gotta minute?” The other sergeant sighed, obviously on his way out and annoyed, but he stepped out of Jensen’s way to let him enter. He could sense right away the other sergeant wasn’t in a patient mood. After Jensen was in the office, Banks shut the door behind them and went around his desk. 

“How can I help you, Jensen?” Banks motioned for Jensen to sit down, as he sat down opposite Jensen. Jensen wasted no time. Ignoring the offer to take a seat in the visitor’s chair, he leaned over the desk and held up Damian’s rap sheet, “Friend of yours?” Jensen’s anger was obvious. Justin Banks hadn’t been known as some kind of asshole, nor had he ever been in trouble for a bad call or caused any problems for the department. Jensen knew him to be pretty agreeable throughout his career, but this took the cake. 

Banks’ eyes darted between Jensen and the papers he was holding, then his eyes caught the name and he took hold of the file and sighed. Jensen finally scooted the visitors chair up flush with the desk and sat down in it, knowing goddamn well this man had recognized the rap sheet. He stayed leaning over, braced on his elbows, waiting. 

When Banks put the file down and rubbed his eyes, Jensen shook his head, “Please tell me you have NOT been running an informant or undercover on Barron and Murray without disclosing it to the rest of us.” Jensen waited. He fumed when the other sergeant took too long to answer, giving himself away. 

Jensen stood up, stepped away, and turned his back for a moment with his hands on his hips. He knew he’d get nowhere by pulling the other sergeant over the desk by his collar and beating him fucking senseless. He controlled his desire to rip the man apart, then turned back around to study him for a few seconds. They were colleagues, one, and Jared’s involvement was probably fueling his reaction, two. 

Jensen watched Justin slowly pull a folder from his bottom drawer. He plopped the folder on the desk and motioned for Jensen to take a seat again. Jensen knew he wasn’t going to like this, he already reached that conclusion. He took the same chair and leaned over to look at the offered information. 

Justin Banks looked Jensen in the eye before he began to explain, “This isn’t some big ongoing operation. It’s on the side and it’s unknown to anyone...only I know, and McKesson, who was monitoring the intel we were getting.” Jensen stared at him, “You’re doing this rogue?” Banks nodded, looking guilty, “No commanders...no lieutenants. Nobody.” 

Jensen vented, “Jesusfuckingchrist, Justin...what the hell were you thinking? If this had gotten anyone hurt or killed...what the fuck were you gonna do?” The lengthy pause and guilt in the other man’s eyes had Jensen leaning further forward, “It’s already happened. Damian?” 

Jensen’s stomach was already churning. This didn’t necessarily mean things were worse for Jared...not yet, anyway, but the career of the man in front of him might just be on the fritz. By the look in Justin Banks’ eyes, Jensen knew the man knew it. Fuck, he’d screwed up. Banks cleared his throat and continued, “As you know, from the data I gave to JD for you, the last op ended prematurely. What we didn’t extract was an implanted informant, at the time who hadn’t been pegged...Damian.” 

Jensen looked thoughtful...still angry, but thoughtful, as he followed, while Banks continued, “Damian isn’t Damian, of course. His real name is Todd Mills. He’s a police volunteer, waiting to get into the academy...he signed up to do undercover’s for us.” Jensen knew about this process. Normally, though, people signing up for these things had massive amounts of cover watching them constantly. You didn’t want the nice helpful civilians to get hurt, even if they ‘were’ signing a form and training to be cops some day. 

Majors tended to use more of these individuals because their cases were lengthy and could go months at a time with no dangers. Jensen’s unit was more of a street team with short surveillance and undercover ops. They rarely used civilians. It was too dangerous. “So,” Jensen started, “Damian-slash-Todd was yours from the ‘get go.’ He stayed in and then he got caught. Where is he?” 

Banks looked suspiciously intrigued, “Where did you hear that?” Jensen barked his response, “Because I happen to have a close friend working there who is completely innocent and I’m trying to get him out. He told me about Damian getting fired. I went to Damian’s place, which doesn’t even fucking exist. I noticed your little icon that pegged this as a fake rap sheet.” 

Banks’ guilty angst in his eyes had diminished. Jensen’s explanation caught his attention, his eagerness at cracking this case returned, “Jensen, are you saying you have a guy on the inside?” Jensen instantly argued, “No, I don’t have a guy on the inside, I have an innocent person who I know is trying to get out by honestly taking another job. That’s IT, Banks. He isn’t usable for your little secret charade, so get that look out of your eyes.” 

Banks thought this over, scrolling through his memory on the employee’s Todd had identified. He turned his lip up in disbelief, “It’s not Bob Reiner, is it?” Jensen said, “No...and what’s wrong with Bob Reiner?” Banks asked, “Who then,” completely ignoring Jensen’s question and focused on who he could possibly be friends with, “Is it the HR lady,” Banks looked down, “a uh Betsy Collins, or someone in the legal team?” 

Banks looked up again, “I’ve got info on them all, if you want to see it...everyone. Some know about their dealings, some don’t. Believe me, we had to list them because if we do a bust, we’ll know who to charge for what. I mean some of these fuckers know exactly what their bosses are into and wholeheartedly help them...only a couple don’t.” 

Banks concentrated on Jensen, still excited at the prospect of having someone new on the inside, yet confused at how he could have possibly missed it. Jensen held his stare, “He’s an accountant and he isn’t one on your list that has any idea of the criminal aspect. I’ve told him because I want him to get out. He didn’t know and wants no part of it. He just wants to go somewhere else and leave with good standing.” 

Banks grabbed the folder on his desk and traced several bits of information with his finger. He finally landed on something and looked up at Jensen in renewed eagerness, “Jared Padalecki.” Banks hesitated. When Jensen said nothing, the other sergeant continued, “The new kid...it has to be the new kid. That’s your friend?” 

Banks looked so excited, it just pissed Jensen off again more, “Yes.” After staring at one another for a full minute, Justin Banks finally sighed in reluctant frustrated acceptance. He closed the folder, grumbling, “Fine.” Jensen was obviously not going to let him consider this friend of his. 

Jensen leaned forward again, letting his anger free, “Endangering this Damian-slash-Todd kid isn’t what we do, Justin. It’s isn’t who we are. What the fuck happened to him? Do you even know?” Banks’ eyes filled with such guilty remorse, Jensen knew immediately things had gone horribly sour for the kid. He almost told Banks not to say it, but that wouldn’t get him what he was looking for. 

Banks shook his head slowly, “I have no idea. I’ve searched his real addresses, tried his next of kin...Jensen, I can’t find him. We had a flip phone with a dead signal between only us. He used it to text me when he had something and I would meet him. He brought me some banking info last week. It was incredible, with two off shore transfers after a ship left port to return to Singapore. After he left, I lost contact with him.” 

Jensen’s anger at this idiot, making a mistake like this so late in his career, was nothing compared to the worry he now had for the missing academy applicant. “Why didn’t you go in looking for him? Who cares, at that point, if it’s a stupid cover, you could have used a plumber. Christ, Justin, he was your responsibility!” “I know that!” Banks stood angrily, though Jensen could see it was more defensive about knowing damn well this was all his fault. Both detectives knew the kid was probably dead. 

“Jensen, what does your friend know? What did they tell him about Damian?” Banks looked into Jensen’s eyes, hopeful for any little tidbit of information that could at least help him locate his informant and not have to live with the younger man’s demise. Jensen sighed, “He said they told him Damian was fired for leaking account information. They didn’t say to whom, they just told him they dismissed him. Jared’s coworker, Reiner, said that after they dropped Jared at his house, they took Damian for a ride and no one had seen him after that. He also told Jared the bosses could run employee phone records, so he ran out and got his own private line.” 

Banks immediately warned, “Jensen, Reiner isn’t reliable. In fact, he’s on our bad list for when we ever got to an arrest. Damian...Todd told me Reiner always made mistakes and tried to get Damian to cover for him. There was another accountant and investment officer he did the same thing to before that. Damian was there almost six months and the pattern started about a month before he got canned. Damian finally called him on it. After he did, Reiner was on him...watching him, running his work and his phone.” 

“Reiner’s a little shit, Jensen. Damian found out he’s been skimming off the top of some of their accounts. He makes little mistakes, makes them look like accidents but they’re on purpose. He changes the deposits, then takes a little for himself. He doesn’t give a shit about anybody...and your ‘boy’ in there certainly shouldn’t trust him. If Padalecki’s an innocent, then he’s probably been a perfect target for Reiner to use...he probably thinks they’re silly mistakes and has no clue what Reiner’s doing.” 

Jensen thought about Jared, innocently befriending people, probably working with Reiner every day and having no clue about the guy. ‘Shit,’ his impulse was to speed over to that office and drag Jared out. No questions. Banks continued, “There’ll be a point, Jensen, when your guy catches on...Reiner will rat him out and try to turn the focus away from himself.” 

Jensen interjected, “There’s nothing to rat him out ‘for’, he isn’t doing anything.” Banks retorted, “Then he’ll make something up. He has to, Jensen, or how does he stay employed. Damian was positive that the last intel he handed me had been spotted in a software program used by Reiner. The man was spying on him, looking for any way to get rid of him. Damian called his bluff and that was that.” 

Jensen couldn’t believe this, “And you let him go back.” Jensen’s snide disapproval at Banks’ actions weren’t held back. The man knew he was facing demotion...or worse. Jensen shook his head. He closed his eyes and looked to the ceiling before looking back at his formerly respected fellow sergeant. There was nothing to say. The man made a choice. 

Jared spent the next few hours reconciling balance sheets. He worked through lunch, noticing Reiner doing the same. Murray took off for awhile, then returned with Barron in the afternoon. Jared finally took a break and ate his lunch. The acid churning in his stomach had left up enough to at least get something down. Reiner seemed to be in his own little world today. No gossip to spread, no needling Jared about his new cell phone. 

Barron came around the office around three forty five and let everyone know they were expected at a company dinner tonight. “No exceptions, you’ll be on the clock everyone.” He gave them the place and time, then left. Murray came out of his office and went over to Reiner’s desk. They talked for a few minutes, but then Murray left, telling them he’d see them at dinner. Jared had no idea whether his boss had mentioned the mistakes to Reiner, or not. 

After stewing for two hours about a dinner party he didn’t want, Jared put his things together and got ready to leave. He sent Jensen a text earlier, giving him the information. The impromptu gathering was definitely putting a damper on their plans to see each other tonight. 

Reiner finally approached Jared, seemingly cheery about the evening plans. “You looking forward to some good food?” Jared glanced at the man, trying to look moderately friendly after what he’d found out today, “Not really. I kinda had plans.” Jared put his jacket on and slung his laptop over his shoulder to walk out with the other accountant. 

Reiner slapped him on the shoulder, “Hey, when do they ever do this? It’ll be good.” Jared looked at him like he’d grown horns, “No, it won’t be good, Reiner, I had good plans...really good plans and now they’re screwed.” The other man responded, “Jesus, Jared, man up. It’s only a couple hours to celebrate their winnings. We all worked on that, ya know...this is nice of them.” 

Jared sighed, holding anymore comments in. They walked out together and he got into his car, waving at Reiner as he pulled out. He was not happy about this. He waited behind a couple other employees who were headed to the same place, then took off for the restaurant at a slower pace. 

Jensen checked his text from Jared. At first, his anxiety skyrocketed, then when he saw the wording, it slowly came back down. ‘He’s okay,’ Jensen kept replaying in his mind. Obviously, the shit Jensen had found out today hadn’t threatened Jared directly just yet. He still seemed to be okay. Pissed about the dinner party, but okay. Jensen intended on filling Jared in tonight and definitely getting him to finally say ‘no’ to going back in.

As Jensen read the rest of the information about the mandatory dinner and especially where it was, Jensen smiled to himself. He actually could swing this. He headed for Morgan’s office to offer the man a few beers and dinner. 

Jared joined the round table, scooting in between one of the attorneys and Betsy in HR. He really didn’t think he could fake anymore friendliness with Reiner, at this point tonight. Jared wasn’t a good liar and knowing the man had been telling his bosses things that weren’t true about him was just too hard to fake. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do about Reiner, but Jared thought maybe he cared enough to at least keep an eye out on the back stabber. 

Jared sighed in longing. Nobody realized how hard it was to sit here, completely feeling like a stick in the mud and thinking of nothing else but being skin on skin with Jensen. Jared tried to cool his thoughts. A lovely hard on wouldn’t be very good right now in front of all these coworkers. 

There were twelve people gathered. For some reason, Reiner hadn’t arrived yet. Jared was beginning to think something happened to the man, but then he finally walked in. Surprisingly, Reiner had two people in tow. Two men. They were mid to late thirties, and followed him into the bar first where he left them. Jared figured he must have plans with the two after their dinner and he knew better than to bring them into Barron and Murray’s private group. 

The bosses whisked in and put their long coats over a nearby chair. They signaled for the waitresses to keep the adjoining accordion doors closed in between their drinks and meals. Funny how everyone around responded to the millionaires just like their employees did. They exhibited a command presence. Most people bowed to it, much to Jared’s annoyance. 

After settling with appetizers and drinks, the bosses started the conversation with their announcement that yesterday’s contracts would further the size of their staff and open new locations. They encouraged existing employees to tell their friends and family to apply and they would consider them. “An extensive background is a requirement,” Barron reminded them, “so make sure they’re in the mood for it.” 

After that announcement, the two bosses formerly thanked their legal, accounting and investment employees for making sure the deals were solid. They went on about how they couldn’t do any of this without such dedication. ‘Yadda, yadda,’ Jared’s mind mocked. These two had made twelve million dollars upfront on yesterday’s deals, then another twenty five percent from the poor bastards who had signed with them. 

They’d absorbed huge square miles of locked land that had appraised lower than owed. After the investors fell for the deal, Jared noticed the new appraisals were millions higher. These two had convinced the seller’s that they were losing millions and took a payment from them to ‘rescue’ them and ‘help’ them get out of the loss. 

Smiling like the sneaky bastards they were, his bosses jointly signed the deal, knowing full well the out of state appraisers were wrong. The property was just waiting to be resold right over into another investor for four times as much. Jared sighed at the signing. It really hadn’t been an illegal deal, outright, it was just the way it was done. Things like that happened all the time and it was never going to stop. 

So, here they were, celebrating at screwing others. ‘Great,’ Jared mentally bitched, ‘love being a part of this.’ He glanced around the table, noticing a couple other people who lacked the gleam of success in their eye. Maybe he wasn’t alone in his bitterness. The food was delicious, of course. This wasn’t a fancy restaurant, really, more middle of the road type for his bosses, but the lazy Susan style was actually engaging and meant for groups to interact while they ate. 

Jared was glad when the formalities were over. Employees were left to talk on their own and enjoy the meal. Reiner was pretty neutral. Jared expected a lot of gossipy subjects from him, but the other accountant seemed to be controlling that around other people. His only irritation to Jared was trying to push some alcohol on him. Jared didn’t order any, on purpose. He liked to drink, but like he told Jensen, he didn’t do it anymore in unknown mixed crowds.

Jared had a rapport with the investors. They’d talked of their backgrounds before and compared practices of Wall Street and Brad&Duns. It was intellectually enjoyable and Jared found the time passing, thank god. HR was just friendly. They were never involved in the deals, but kept everyone’s pay in order so everyone appreciated them. 

Once the entree’s arrived, Jared excused himself for a minute to use the restroom. He exited the accordion panel doors and headed for the back hall, but slowed his walk as he glanced toward the bar. ‘No fucking way,’ Jared’s shock turned into a surprised grin. He didn’t approach the far away busy bar, but he definitely laid eyes on a couple of men he knew...one of them he knew ‘really’ well...intimately. 

Jared’s appreciative grin didn’t match the ensemble of trumpets playing on the inside. Jensen was here...and even though Jared was smart enough not to head for the bar and blow the facade that they didn’t know each other, he couldn’t help sporting how happy he felt. 

Jensen had his back partially turned. He was sitting with a cover shirt, facing his partner detective Jared recognized from the gym interview. The older man glanced at Jared. From this far away, it was hard to tell, but Jared thought he could see a bit of a knowing grin on the man’s face. He quickly turned his attention back toward Jensen, so Jared got the hint and went on into the restroom. 

“He see you?” Jensen sipped his beer, not really interested in gulping the thing, but trying to look casual. Both men were wearing their firearms and not intending on getting a buzz. When Jensen informed Jeff of why they were here, the rambling trail of complaints went from the car all the way to the bar. “You said a drink, dickwad, not backwash and surveillance.” 

JD quickly quieted, as he offered to keep eyes on the back meeting room while Jensen kept his face hidden. He really liked that kid...and he really liked Jensen finding someone who made him happy. This wasn’t work, it was family. They didn’t think Murray would remember them from the gym, but you never knew. Two guys having dinner and a drink wouldn’t be suspicious, but to overly suspicious criminals, the two cops who had been at Jared’s assault and robbery scene might set them on edge. 

The last thing either detective wanted was to escalate Jared’s bosses anxiety and endanger him. JD smiled at the kid, but he wasn’t sure if Jared could see that far. “Yeah, he saw you. He saw me, too. Definitely knows we’re here. I think he looked happy about it, but without my glasses, I can’t fucking be sure.”

Jensen sighed, “What’s he doing?” Jeff answered, “I think he’s going for a piss...or maybe a puke from noticing two crotchety old fuckers at the bar.” Jensen rolled his eyes, as JD continued, “Want me to radio that in?” JD grinned, snickering when Jensen shook his head. “Idiot,” Jensen bitched. 

They’d talked in the car. Jensen told him about the case...everything. He gave him the folder he’d gotten from Banks and informed him that the sergeant had gone to tell his lieutenant everything. Jensen had to be patient and wait for his friend to go through the same disbelief, anger and more disbelief at what their fellow officer had done. They both agreed there wasn’t much hope they would find the missing informant. It sucked.


	10. CHAPTER TEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a LOT of hurt Jared in this one...protective/comforting Jensen is in full force. Reiner’s little ugliness is becoming more apparent and the boys become even closer. JD is a good friend. 
> 
>  
> 
> *A warning about the mention of Liquid E in my chapter. This is a nasty substance that is unfortunately out there and it’s used on a main character. No non-con’s to worry about, just the drug. In case anyone has any sensitivities from dealing with it in their lives, I wanted to mention it here. There won’t be too much more of it in the story. 
> 
> Thanks for hanging with me during this ride! :0)

CHAPTER TEN 

Jensen and Jeff finally took a seat in the dining area. They waited longer than they had to, just to get a table where they still had full view of the back room. Morgan had to admit, his peppercorn steak and potatoes were pretty goddamn good. “Shit, Ackles, surveillance with you ain’t too bad. Keepin’ an eye on a cute kid and getting a spread like this...okay, man, sign me up and I’ll help you with this any time.” 

Jensen chuckled, “It’s a bribe, old man. My date’s busy so I needed someone to have dinner with me.” Morgan looked up over his glasses that he’d finally put on, “You’re not expecting me to put out, are you, cuz’ mine is an exit only, friend.” Jensen looked at his friend in sour disbelief, “Will you shut the fuck up, asshole?” Jensen sighed and looked toward the room.

Morgan watched him for a minute. He took a sip of his beer, then commented further, “I see the way you look at that door, Ackles. I know damn well what’s goin’ on here.” Jensen spouted a ‘t’ sound of disbelief as he glanced at his friend, then looked back at the room, “what the hell are you rambling about.” 

Morgan put his beer down and crossed his fingers, resting them that way for a few seconds before he spoke, “You’re in love with him.” Jensen did a double take, “Oh, come on, you’re so full of it, JD,” but the older man interrupted him, “Stop,” Morgan held his hand up, “stop trying to talk me or yourself out of it. You love him and it’s all over your face, dumb ass.” 

Jensen sighed, looking at Morgan but refusing to comment. Morgan took another sip of his beer, “It’s cute,” then knowingly grinned when Jensen sputtered his disagreement grumbling. He had suspected it about himself, but knowing JD could see it just pissed him off. “Do you mind sticking with the reason why we’re here, please? The kid’s in the middle of a bunch of shitholes and I just want to keep an eye on him until I can talk to him alone later.” 

JD smirked, “Sure. That all you’re gonna do is ‘talk’?” Jensen warned him, “Goddammit, Morgan,” to which Morgan finally raised his hand again, “Alright alright,” then quieted. They stewed over what was to come once Jared got out of this. What would happen to the sergeant who’d failed to protect an innocent informant and what would make it to the news. After another forty five minutes, people finally started exiting the banquet room. 

The doors were folded open, allowing Jared’s group to be fully connected to the outside part of the restaurant. Jared felt the refreshing cool air enter the boxed up room, providing blessed relief to the over heated area. Some of his coworkers left right away, most of them in good spirits. Reiner stayed behind, as did Jared and one of the investors. 

Barron and Murray left, reminding everyone to be in the office by nine the next morning. They were giving everyone a couple hours extra sleep, which Jared thought was awfully nice for a bunch of dickweed swindlers. He started to get up and gather his things, laughing at his own thoughts, but quickly realized he wasn’t too coordinated. 

‘Silly me,’ he fumbled with his jacket, which seemed to be stuck on the chair. As Jared giggled to himself, his unpopular non-friend Reiner came to the rescue, “Here, Jared, let me help you with that.” Jared didn’t like this man anymore, but he smiled softly, not meaning to, and thanked the man. Why did he feel so silly? 

Reiner actually led Jared over to the part of the room where people could enjoy some darts and have a few drinks. The accountants would look semi-‘chummy’ to anyone watching them. Jensen, however, was irritated as hell, “What the hell is he doing?” Jensen’s angry question prompted Jeff to look in that direction. He saw Jared taking a place at a new table, and being joined by a couple extra men who had come from the bar. These men hadn’t been in the dinner party. 

“JD, this doesn’t make any sense,” Jensen bitched. He continued to watch the display, closely assessing his lover’s increasingly sluggish behavior. The accountant laughed that magical sound Jensen loved at something Reiner said, then seemed to be pleased to meet two of the asshole’s friends. After shaking hands, the four men ordered more drinks from the waitress. 

When she passed by, Jensen stopped her, “What’s the tall guy ordering?” The woman glanced at the table of four and asked, “You mean that gorgeous tall drink?” Jensen nodded, “Yes, what did he order?” She looked at Jensen and shrugged, “Just a Sprite...oh, and a few cherries.” She shrugged again, “It was cute,” then continued on to the bar. 

Jensen turned back to JD and sighed, “He doesn’t do this, Jeff. He doesn’t drink with people he doesn’t know. He told me that.” Jeff turned back to watch the table, now much more concerned for their young civilian than he’d been a little while ago. He joined Jensen in watching the display. After the waitress delivered drinks for everyone, one of Reiner’s buddies returned to the table with a box of darts. 

Jared couldn’t remember what he’d been doing before this. He kept looking back at the banquet room like he’d left his former self somewhere in there. Something wasn’t right. Was he dreaming? He glanced around the table and realized he was surrounded by strangers. ‘Why am I here,’ he kept asking himself but he couldn’t seem to gather enough gusto to get up and tell them he wanted to leave. 

Jeff watched intently, knowing damn well Jensen’s instincts had never failed either one of them. If he said this was ‘off’, then it fucking was ‘off’. The four men at the back table took turns with their darts, laughing and goofing off in between. Jared was more subdued, Jensen definitely noticed, the younger man having to support himself on the table when he stood up. He wasn’t too coordinated, but he didn’t seem to be having any problem staying with the group. 

Jensen noticed the accountant glanced around, off and on...he looked a bit confused, but then he would focus back on his group. He never looked once at his phone, and he never once noticed Jensen sitting a few tables away from him. The men beside him touched him, at times...sometimes on the shoulder, sometimes on the arm. Jensen’s protectiveness anger was twisting his insides. 

This wasn’t right. Jensen and Jeff had moved to a closer table, now within earshot, at least, but still unbeknownst to the rest of the group. Reiner and his buddies seemed to be focused on their entertainment and totally unaware of their surroundings. Jensen didn’t like the way the three men kept glancing at one another. He could see it now, sort of a knowing grin between them. 

Jared was oblivious, and that just pissed Jensen off more. “Keep calm, cowboy, we’ve got him,” Jeff soothed. He’d obviously noticed it too, and he also noticed Jensen’s control reaching it’s limit. Jensen responded to JD’s comment, “I know, JD, but look at ‘em. Their planning something...ganging up on him.” 

Jeff kept his focus on the other table, “Nothing’s gonna happen to him with us here. We’ll stop it, just wait for the right moment when we can...” Jeff stopped talking when both cops noticed one of the men take out a small vial and pour a few drops into Jared’s drink. “Like that.” That was enough. The detectives shot out of their chairs and approached the four men fast. 

“Turn around and face the wall,” Morgan ordered to the two men standing. The third with the vial in his pocket was lifted from his chair in an iron grip and pushed face first against the wall. Jensen cuffed him, pushing him against the concrete a little harder than he meant to. The faces of the standing men wore shock, then fear, then resentment that they had obviously been caught.

“All three of you are under felony arrest for spiking someone’s drink. It’s illegal, in case you hadn’t looked that up before you assholes planned your evening.” Morgan cuffed his two prisoners, knowing one of them was a company employee. He glanced over and noticed Jensen doing the same before pulling the small vial out of his prisoner’s pocket. 

The detectives manhandled their three suspects into chairs and called dispatch to send a transport and backup officers. Morgan searched the pockets of the other two men, finding a second vial. He didn’t find anything on Reiner. He kept an eye on the handcuffed individuals, so Jensen could turn his focus on Jared. 

Jared didn’t know why everything was such a blur. He’d been happily sipping his soda and laughing at something...was he laughing? Furthermore, was he happy? He’d played darts, but he didn’t know why the hell he was doing it when he was sure he had another date with Jensen. Maybe he had the wrong night. Hadn’t he seen Jensen earlier? 

Jared tried to focus on his companions but they had their backs turned. There were two blurry blobs, who looked like men, standing behind the other men. What the hell was happening? Jared reminded himself he was probably still dreaming. He started to stand, but felt the hard chair hit his ass and wondered why. ‘How am I going to get home,’ he asked himself. He felt exhausted. His limbs were mush and he really needed to sleep.

He kept trying to get up, until Jared felt someone put a hand on his forearm and another on his shoulder. His vision was swimming, but someone was talking to him. It was a voice he recognized and it grounded him. ‘Safe,’ he remembered, for some reason. Jensen quickly knelt down on one knee in front of Jared’s chair. He took the younger man’s arm and touched his shoulder to see if he could get Jared’s attention without scaring him. 

“Hey,” Jensen soothed, “do you recognize me? Jared, do you recognize me?” Jared’s eyes blinked heavily, as he tried mercilously to gain some control over his swimming vision. Finally, he weakly mumbled, “Jnsn?” Jensen smiled, “Yeah,” brushing the accountant’s hair aside and gently rubbing his thumb on Jared’s cheek, “yeah, it’s me.” 

Jared tried to focus on Jensen, but everything was moving too fast, “Jnsn, I don’t,” he started to glance around, his emotions finally hitting the surface, “I don’t know why’m here,” he admitted with an emotional exhale. “Hey hey,” Jensen soothed, “it’s okay, you’re safe now. I’m right here, okay? I’m gonna get you home and you’re gonna be okay.” 

Jared seemed to accept that with a nod. He held back the rest of the emotional turmoil he was feeling. If anything, Jensen’s presence made him feel safe, no matter how confusing everything was. The older man kept his hand on Jared until fellow officers finally arrived to take control of the arrestees. He didn’t want Jared to feel exposed or alone for one second. If this tested to be a narcotic or ‘E’, then he expected Jared’s emotions to be raw and vulnerable. 

The cops exchanged all the pertinent information, then tested a couple drops from the vial with a drug text kit. JD and Jensen both watched the black circle turn bright purple. “Liquid E,” Morgan exchanged a look with his friend, knowing damn well Jensen was barely controlling his rage. If there was nothing they hated more, it was predators using drugs to trick someone into compromising positions, raping them when they had no fight, then leaving them the put the pieces together afterward. He couldn’t imagine what it felt like for Jensen to have this tried on someone he had feelings for. Fuck, if they hadn’t been here...

Jeff helped Jensen get Jared out to the car by balancing him between them with Jared’s arms over their shoulders. They didn’t have to worry about any paperwork. The other officers took all of it off their hands. Jared was mobile, but definitely not coordinated. He tripped several times, even snickered at his own clumsiness. 

Jensen would have thought it was absolutely adorable if he wasn’t so worried about further effects of the drug. This wasn’t alcohol, and both detectives knew it didn’t always take kindly to some people’s systems. Jared was conscious when the two sergeants gently lowered him into his own backseat. Morgan went around to the other side and pulled the younger man from underneath his armpits, while Jensen pushed on Jared’s thighs. 

The accountant wasn’t a lightweight, but he was’t particularly heavy either. Jensen had to take extra time getting the longer than average limbs in the car. Jared’s legs were trying to be helpful, but they really weren’t. Finally, both men shut the back doors, their charge safely ensconced in his own SUV. They took a few seconds to catch their breath, then Morgan asked, “Follow you?” Jensen nodded, “Yeah.” 

He started to turn, then looked at Morgan in concern, “You still think he’s okay without a doctor?” JD reminded his friend, “Jensen we followed all protocol back at the table. We went through all the pupil tests, pulse, checked his reflexes. He just needs to sleep it off. Now if his heart rate skyrockets on you and he starts getting too agitated, then you get him to ER stat. If not, he’ll be fine in a few hours...minus some puking and confusion, most likely.” 

Jensen sighed, looking down, “Thank god we were there.” He looked up and put his hand on JD’s shoulder, “Thank you.” Jeff smacked the hand off of him, “Shut up,” then turned to go get the county car. Jensen smirked to himself and slipped into Jared’s driver’s seat. 

They caravan’d to Jared’s house. Jensen remembered the code to the gate, then pushed the button on the younger man’s visor and parked Jared’s SUV in his garage. When JD pulled into the driveway, Jensen was just opening the front door and returning to the open garage. “He say anything on the way here?” Jeff asked Jensen that question as he approached the back seat of the SUV. 

“He was singing,” Jensen commented. A glance at Jeff’s expression had him smirking. Jensen returned the smirk, but then became serious, “He sang in between this forlorn drawn out cries about doing something bad and letting someone down. It wasn’t easy.” JD saw the miserable angst in Jensen’s eyes and he understood. Jared’s dose of the infamous date drug was opening up fears and wounds he probably didn’t even realize he harbored. 

“I’m sorry, Ackles. He’s too nice to imagine any shit happening to him.” Jensen nodded, trying to mask his emotions. The two men opened the back of the SUV. Jared moaned, upset and whiney at having to move, as the two detectives manhandled him out of the car and toward the house. 

The accountant was dead weight. He tried to walk but his legs weren’t cutting it. His little movements weren’t even providing any help, at all. Morgan and Jensen carried him in, down the hall and right to the bed. They dropped him, carefully, onto the bed, then stood with their hands on their hips. “Want me to go get some fluids, maybe a few soups and crackers just in case?” 

JD looked at Jensen and waited for his response. Jensen rubbed his face, then decided it would probably be a good idea. He turned to JD, “Yeah. I know it’s late, but could you?” After Jeff left, Jensen tried his best to get Jared undressed, talking to him the whole time so he knew who was touching him. Jared’s limbs moved restlessly, but sluggish. He was so frustrated that nothing worked right. Was Jensen even here, or was he dreaming it? 

Jared had a few moments of clarity...or at least Jensen thought. The younger man struggled to sit up, swaying but pushing himself to try and stay upright. Jensen pulled a set of pajama bottoms up the younger man’s legs, but he hadn’t quite gotten them over his hips yet before Jared sat up. Jensen sat next to him, supporting him so he didn’t fall back and hit his head. 

He could see Jared was confused. He rubbed is back gently, trying to coax him into relaxing. “It’s okay, buddy. You’re home safe now.” Jared looked around sluggishly, clearly unable to focus. “What happn’d,” he mumbled. His panic escalated, tearing a hole in Jensen’s heart, as his breathing increased and he completely missed Jensen’s reassurances. 

Jared was afraid. His body was out of his control. This had happened to him years ago in New York and he would never forget it, but why was it happening again? He’d been so careful. As he struggled to move, his mind over reacted to his lack of control. “No,” Jared’s breathing escalated. He unsuccessfully tried to move out of Jensen’s personal space, confused and weak. 

Jared’s uncoordinated struggles told Jensen it was obvious he was terribly confused. “Jared, you’ve been drugged. Buddy, come on, can you look at me? Jare, look at me...look at me, buddy, that’s it.” Jensen held the accountant in his arms, using one hand to brush the hair from his face and force Jared’s face toward him. 

His eyes were dilated badly. Jensen knew they had hours to go before this crap burned out of Jared’s system. “You see me? You see who it is? I’m not gonna hurt you, Jare, it’s me.” Jared’s eyes rolled up, blinking heavily in between trying like a champion to focus and respond. Something about the sound of Jensen’s voice was working. Jared was calming down. 

“Hey,” Jensen kept soothing him, “that’s it. You know I’m right here...nobody’s gonna hurt you, okay?” Jared moaned, managing to mumble out, “J’nsn?” Jensen smiled, “Yeah, that’s it. You know who it is, right? You know you’re safe?” Jared moaned again, then Jensen could see the emotions breaking. This was another symptom of this drug. Emotions ran wild and there was no stopping them. 

Jared’s tears came with a few sobs. His inhibitions were gone and allowing the fears and anguish to spill out. Jensen didn’t know if he could stand it. His feelings for this man weren’t going to allow Jared to hurt like this without Jensen feeling it too. “I don’t w’nt to go with them...pl’s Jns’n, pl’s...” Jared’s anguished plea was instantly pulling at Jensen’s control. He knew he wasn’t gonna be able to handle this with his normal non-emotional cop barriers. “Ssshhh, I know, Jared, you’re not going with them.” 

Jared kept rambling, tears rolling down his face, laying loosely in Jensen’s arms, “Nooo,” he sluggishly shook his head, “M’sorry...s’not what I w’nt.” Jared tried valiantly to focus on the man holding him, “Pl’s, m’sorry...Idn’t want to go with th’m.” Jensen couldn’t stand it. He pulled Jared to him, hugged him tightly and kissed his head, “You’re not going with them, Jare, I’ve got you.” 

Jensen spoke into Jared’s hair, as he rubbed the back of his head. He held the accountant as tightly as possible, feeling the sobs gently start to subside. Jensen felt his own eyes burn. He blinked heavily, forcing one tear to escape before he held back the rest. This was a terrible experience for a person. Some people willingly used this drug to enhance sexual responses, but assholes used it to take away a victim’s ability to fight. 

Jensen had learned a ton about drugs like this when he worked vice. It wasn’t pretty. Often, people still had their intellect about them. The mind somehow knew there was something wrong...something happening they hadn’t agreed to, but their body’s responses and their willingness to comply couldn’t be controlled. It was a terrible experience, and knowing what could have happened to Jared if he hadn’t been there was tearing Jensen’s insides apart. 

Jensen began to rock Jared in his arms, something that felt surprisingly natural. He’d never done this with anybody, that was for damn sure. Jared quieted, thought he still moaned in misery a few more times. Jensen noticed the younger man had twisted Jensen’s shirt in both hands, holding it in a tight grip. He was glad Jared seemed to find some comfort with him here, finally. 

Jared stayed that way for awhile, Jensen holding him. The older man knew they still had Jared’s pajama bottoms half way on and he eventually would need to get him dressed. It was chilly in the house, but right now the accounting expert seemed to be perfectly fine where he was at. Jensen kissed his lover’s head, breathing in Jared’s day old shampoo scent and closing his eyes. ‘Thank god,’ Jensen kept replaying in his mind. Thank god he’d dragged JD to that restaurant. 

“Jn’sn?” Jared’s sluggish call to him broke Jensen’s thoughts. “Hmmm?” Jensen pulled his head back, trying to see around to the front of Jared’s buried face but unable to bend his neck that far. The younger man had turned his head with his face pushed against Jensen’s shoulder. He still held the older man’s t-shirt in an iron grip. Jared moaned softly, Jensen waited. 

He wasn’t sure what was coming until Jared moaned a heart wrenching sound of absolute misery and tried to pull back. Jensen helped him, though it was a little challenging to grip Jared by the upper arms and try to keep him from falling over. “Jare, what is it?” 

JD came back in the room at that moment to set a couple water bottles and a gatorade on the nightstand. Jensen looked at the swimming pale face in front of him, feeling for fever and noticing the thin sheen of sweat just starting. “Jare, are you sick?” Jared tried his hardest to voice it, “I’m sor,” he panted, “m’gonna...throw up,” then heaved over the side of the bed as Jensen quickly leaned him over to try his best to save the bedspread. 

Morgan had seen it coming. He grabbed a nearby garbage can and placed it under the kid’s face, just as Jensen helped him bend over the bedside. Jensen held Jared around his torso, feeling the ribcage heave and spasm with poor Jared’s sickness. This wasn’t a bad thing, overall, though Jensen knew it didn’t feel that way to the Jared. His system was strong, and it was trying to reject the drug.

Jared heaved and coughed, completely at his body’s mercy, as it tried to push the toxin from his system the only way it knew how. He spasmed until finally spent, left hunched over and struggling for oxygen. Jared was shaking with weakness. He was completely done, as far as any strength went. Jensen glanced at his friend, “Jeff, grab him on that side.” 

Jensen and Morgan each grabbed Jared around his torso from opposite sides and dragged him back to lay on the bed with his head on the pillows. Jensen finally got the pajamas pulled up with JD’s help. He went to the bathroom and grabbed some dry rags. He turned on the hot water and waited for it to warm up, as Morgan brought in the messy garbage can and dumped it in the toilet. 

“Poor kid lost his dinner,” Morgan grumbled, as he flushed. Jensen rinsed the rags under the hot faucet, then wrung them out. He sighed, as he exited the bathroom and went to Jared’s bedside again. ‘Poor Jared’ was right. Jensen hated seeing him go through this. Not everybody responded to drugs this way, but Jared’s healthy system obviously didn’t appreciate this one. 

Morgan washed the garbage bin with a squirt of cleaner he found under the sink, while Jensen bathed Jared with the hot rags. He wiped the sheen of sweat off, pleased at the light moans of appreciation. At least Jared was feeling a bit of comfort from the hot rags. Jensen wiped his neck and arms, then cleaned his hands one by one. Jared was trembling a little. 

Jensen threw the rags to the hamper and wrestled Jared’s covers out from under him. The accountant still seemed confused and afraid. Jensen layered the thick bedding around him and rubbed it, trying to warm the younger man up. He smoothed Jared’s hair back, “Hey...you’re gonna be okay, Jare. Just try and relax.” 

Jared blinked heavily, seemingly comforted enough to settle down a bit from Jensen’s touch. Morgan put the garbage can back at the side of the bed, just in case they needed it later. He took Jared’s wrist between two fingers and checked his watch, monitoring the kid’s pulse for a minute. 

Jensen noticed his accountant was still shaking. This also wasn’t a bad thing. The nervousness, anxiety, slight shaking was all a process of Jared’s system burning the toxin away. In a couple hours, he would need some fluids. Morgan finished his task and put Jared’s wrist down, “It’s not bad...little fast, but it’s better than it was.” Jensen shifted the covers to make sure Jared’s arm was back in the warm cocoon. He brushed the hair back from his face, softly telling him again to rest. 

The two detectives moved over to the hallway to talk just outside Jared’s bedroom door. They went over the arrest, both agreeing that the man with the vial was probably the only one that would be on a high bail. Reiner would lie and claim ignorance, of course. They hadn’t run any priors, but if he and the other man had clean records before now, the jail would probably cite them out. 

Morgan left, after Jensen assured him he could use Jared’s SUV if he needed to...and if Jared’s vitals declined, Jensen would simply call an ambulance. For now, both detectives felt the younger man was on his way to recovery. Jensen locked up Jared’s door and checked all the windows. He turned the lights off, placed an additional water next to the opposite side of the bed and removed his jeans and shoes. Jensen had on his underwear, t-shirt and socks. 

Jensen slipped into Jared’s bed and scooted closer to him. He hadn’t noticed until now the younger man was very quietly sobbing again. He didn’t think Jared was even awake. “Hey,” Jensen softly soothed, “come here,” taking Jared into his arms. Jensen kissed him on his forehead, mentally celebrating when the trembling numbers expert felt his familiar warmth and nestled into him without hesitation. 

“That’s it...you’re gonna be okay, Jare. I promise you’re gonna feel better,” Jensen said, holding his new lover against his chest and rubbing the man’s back. He held Jared close until he fell fast asleep. Much to Jensen’s surprise, he seemed to have a knack for this when it came to someone he cared about. Jensen chastised himself for putting off admitting it. ‘Care about? You love him, dumb ass.’


	11. CHAPTER ELEVEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This gets us through the horrible evening for Jared and the next morning’s events shed some light on his predicament. Jensen shares a few fluffy moments with the new love in his life, Jeff loves what he sees between the two, and Jared is on his way to a much better job! 
> 
> *A little residual mention of the date rape situation that Jared was saved from, but no other warnings to mention.

CHAPTER ELEVEN 

 

Jeff Morgan knocked softly on Jared’s front door. He’d talked to Jensen an hour ago, asking if he could come by with information on their arrestees. Jensen opened the door, quietly, and led his friend to Jared’s small dining table. The two men sat down with two steaming cups of coffee, JD pulling a folder out of an old inter-office envelope. 

“Jesus,” Jensen exclaimed at the amount of papers Jeff pulled out, “what time did you start on this?” Morgan looked up, “Dude, I couldn’t sleep. It was hard enough just to wait ‘til seven to go in...and I’m glad I did. Look at this shit.” Jeff pointed to a few papers and pushed them Jensen’s way. The younger man began to sift through them, as Jeff sampled his coffee. 

Jeff quickly put his cup down with a grimace, “Christ Ackles, you trying to kill me?” Jensen glanced up and grinned, then went back to reading through the folder, “grow a sack, jarhead.” Morgan spouted off, “You mean a little one, like yours?” Jensen focused on his reading, though he held his smirk at Morgan’s comment. This banter had gone on for years between them.

“Who did these interviews?” Jensen looked up at Morgan. The older man took another turn at his coffee before answering, “Blakely.” Jensen nodded. He had to agree with this. Blakely was on Morgan’s team and he was one of the best interviewers they had with suspects. The guy could get ‘anybody’ to squeal. 

“Son of a bitch,” Jensen sighed and shook his head, still reading. Jeff grinned into his coffee, knowing Jensen was seeing what he saw earlier. If they hadn’t been there last night, their innocent accountant would have been terribly hurt, not just physically. Jensen slammed the papers down, got up and went to stand at the slider with his back turned. He really needed a moment. 

Morgan understood. He looked around and tried for changing the subject, “This is a nice place.” Jensen sighed and looked down. Morgan noticed, so he kept going, “So, how is he? He sleep alright after I left?” Jensen seemed to come out of his murderous rage moment enough to turn around and at least engage in Jeff’s deflection. 

“Yeah, he did. He had some little emotional moments, but he didn’t need to puke anymore, at least. He slept like the dead after that.” Jensen checked his watch, noticing it was close to nine, “He’s been out cold about six hours.” JD nodded, “Good.” He studied his friend, “You got him past it, you know.” 

Jensen came over and grabbed JD’s cup for a warm up. “He shouldn’t have been ‘in’ it,” he grumbled while pouring with his back turned, “doesn’t deserve it.” Jensen came back to the table and set the cup down, “He doesn’t deserve to even be ‘touched’ by any of this crap.” 

Morgan agreed. He sighed, “A lot of people don’t, Jensen, don’t forget that’s why we do what we do.” Jensen agreed, “I know,” then grabbed his own cup to go put more coffee into it. When he returned, he sat down again and sighed, “It’s just,” Jensen couldn’t put it into words. Jeff sipped his coffee and watched him. Jensen sighed again, rubbing his hand over his head. “It’s just different. This is different.” 

Jeff rested his chin in his hand, supported by his elbow and studied his friend. Finally he grinned softly, “It’s different because you care about him. You love him.” Jensen argued, “How can I love him, I barely know him? Would you stop with that?” Jeff giggled smugly, “Deny it all you want, suckerfish. I’ve known you for sixteen years and I know what I see.” 

Jensen gave up trying to argue. He rolled his eyes and focused on his coffee until they both heard a few sounds from the back bedroom. Both cops looked at each other, Jensen setting his cup down, “I’ll be right back.” He got up and left, with Morgan smirking at his back, as he went down the hall. ‘This is priceless,’ he thought to himself. Seeing Jensen Ackles doting over someone was a show he didn’t wanna miss. 

Jared’s head felt like a ton of bricks. He was sure he’d been run over. Working his way out of the warm covers, he sat up and put his feet on the floor. He immediately regretted it. His brain was throbbing, angrily letting him know something wasn’t quite right. He kept his eyes shut tight and pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing in hard and practically willing the pain in his head to go away. 

“Hey,” Jared heard Jensen’s soft voice next to him. He felt the comfort of the older man’s hand on his back. This man had been his anchor for the past several hours. Jared had felt so out of control, vulnerable and open. Jensen had given him safety and said nothing of it. No laughs, no chastising, no guilt about how he shouldn’t have gotten himself in that situation. He’d just ‘been’ there. Jared found he didn’t want him to leave. He was glad Jensen was still here. 

“You want some Tylenol?” Jensen kept his voice soft, so he didn’t aggravate Jared’s obvious headache. Jared nodded, still not speaking, but Jensen got the message. He grabbed a couple tablets from the medicine shelf in the bathroom and returned with them. Jensen opened one of the water bottles next to the bed and held the pills out in one hand, the bottle in the other. 

Jared inhaled a breath and held it, balanced himself with on hand on the bed and took the pills with the other. He put them in his mouth, then took the water bottle. Jensen watched him drink half the bottle, then breathe a few gulps of air with his eyes still squinted shut. Jared finally drank the rest of the bottle and held it out. Jensen took it and put it aside. 

He knew Jared would be dehydrated by the time he finally woke up. He’d lost a lot of fluids last night and Jensen had only managed to get him to take a couple sips of gatorade. He watched Jared closely, brushing the hair back from his face and rubbing his back. The poor guy looked miserable. “How’s your stomach? I can see your head’s not so hot.” 

Jared took a few calming breaths before answering, “S’okay.” Jensen kept his voice low, “When you’re ready, we’ve got some soup, or I can whip up some chocolate pancakes from your cupboard.” Jared tried to smile, a slight snicker at Jensen’s offer. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have someone try and take care of him like this. “Mm...maybe later...m’just,” Jared took a few seconds to breathe. 

The medicine was already working, or maybe it had been the water he needed. Jared turned his face toward Jensen, trying to force his eyes to open and look at him, “Thn’k you.” Jensen smiled softly, his eyes full of concern, “It’s okay,” then he smoothed Jared’s hair back again and rubbed his back, “I kinda like it, so any time, okay?” Jared smiled shyly and looked back down. Jesus, this was getting awfully cozy. Where the hell had Jensen been all his life. 

“M’gonna take a shower...wake up,” Jared said, still sitting there and focusing on the ground. His teeth felt like sandpaper. He glanced at the little garbage can sitting close by and had a quick flashback of being hunched over and puking his guts out with projectile force. “God,” Jared’s mumbled comment was pretty telling. Jensen was sure the poor man felt like he’d been dragged behind a bus for a few miles. “I’m sorry, Jare. I’m so damn sorry you had to go through that.” 

Jared perked up a little, probably at the prospect of Jensen actually feeling guilty about any of this. “You saved me,” he argued, glancing at Jensen in disbelief, then looking back down, “if you hadn’t been there....” Jared trailed off. He really didn’t want to elaborate more right now. Finally, the younger man looked up toward the ceiling, closed his eyes again and sighed. The medication was definitely starting to help. 

Jensen said, “I hope it’s okay that I fed your little friends for you. They were waiting by the bowls about an hour ago and they kinda broke me.” Jared smiled to himself. He laughed very softly, thinking how cute it was that his cop lover had softened to the little faces outside. “Thank you,” Jared said. Jensen smiled. 

Jared finally felt human enough to glance over at his lover’s outfit. Jensen had put his jeans back on and the flannel over shirt. “How long have you been up?” Jensen answered him, “A little over an hour. I didn’t use your shower, or anything, just that spare toothbrush. I didn’t wanna take over like I owned the place without you being conscious and all.”   
Jared smirked, then looked down. It really would have been okay for Jensen to use his shower, but it was sweet that Jensen had been so polite about it. Jared glanced at the clock before Jensen could say anything else. He just seemed to realize what day it was. Jared suddenly stiffened and shakily stood up, “Fuck, it’s that late?” Jensen stood with him and held him by his arms, “Whoa, take it easy.” 

Jared looked at him with slight panic in his eyes, “I have to work. Jensen, I’m late for work.” Jensen squeezed his arms and stopped him from rushing for the bathroom, “Hold on, buddy, take it easy, okay? You’re off sick today. Believe me, you’ve got a sick day coming after that asshole and his friends drugged you last night.” 

Jared looked worried, “But they wouldn’t know...my bosses wouldn’t know. I didn’t even call them. Jensen, I at least should call.” Jensen sighed at the painful anxiety he saw amplified in Jared’s grey beauties. It was obvious the kid’s work ethic was way too strict to just let himself off the hook. “Well, who do you call when you’re not gonna be there?” 

Jared paused. He looked painful, trying to think it over, but not getting any conclusions, “I don’t know. I’ve never called in sick before.” Jensen sighed, “Well, of course you haven’t. Okay, well why don’t you start with HR, someone like that?” Jared thought that sounded reasonable and nodded, looking around for his phone. Jensen grabbed it for him, pulling it out of the younger man’s suit jacket from last night. 

“Here,” Jensen handed it to him. He touched Jared on the shoulder to get his attention, “Now remember, no getting sucked into any work...you’re off today, resting and recuperating, kapeesh?” Jensen held the younger man’s gaze until it looked like Jared was in agreement. The accountant nodded, reluctantly, “Okay,” then dialed the number. 

After letting Betsy in HR know he’d gotten really sick after their dinner last night, he hung up and threw his phone on the bed. Jared felt better. At least his employers knew where he was. Jensen noticed he was looking much better than he did when he first woke up. 

“You gonna be okay in the shower?” Jensen wanted to give Jared as much leeway as possible to regroup, but he didn’t want him toppling over from any after effects. Jared nodded, “God yes,” then grabbed some fresh underwear and an undershirt, and headed into the bathroom. He seemed to be functioning on most of his cylinders now, so Jensen let him go. 

“JD’s here,” Jensen called after him, not wanting Jared to walk into a surprise. The younger man leaned back around the door frame, “Who?” Jensen explained, “Remember my partner from the gym when you got assaulted? The greying grumbly one that’s not as good looking as me?” Jared thought about it, remembering, “Oh...yeah, I remembering him. He’s nice.” 

Jensen looked perturbed, “Well I don’t know about nice...but anyway, he’s out at your table. We’ve been going over some info on the bozo’s from last night. I just wanted you to know he’s here.” Jared said, “Okay,” then turned to take care of his ministrations. After he shut the bathroom door, Jensen figured Jared was okay on his own and headed back to the dining area. 

“You sure he doesn’t mind me being here?” Morgan asked that over his reading glasses for the third time. Jensen set the paper down in frustration he’d been reading, “No, JD, would you stop asking me that? For the third time, no he doesn’t fucking mind.” Jensen went back to his studying and sighed, “Jesus, you’d think he was your little brother, or something, the way you worry about it.” 

Jeff shrugged, still reading his own paperwork, “He’s cute. And he might be my little brother in law some day, so maybe I want him to like me.” Jensen guffawed out a surprised laugh, looking at the older man like he’d grown two heads, “Where do you get this shit?” Jensen shook his head, Morgan grinned, but stayed silent, as he went back to his paperwork. He loved pushing Jensen’s buttons. 

Just then, the kid in question walked out. Jensen glanced up and couldn’t help himself. ‘Jesus mother of Mary and all Joseph’s,’ he mentally cursed, as Jared came out, insanely gorgeous in a pair of soft loose faded and torn blue jeans. It wasn’t only that...he had socks on and a white t-shirt that gripped his pecks and biceps nicely. Jensen’s insides groaned, knowing damn well this was not the time to be ogling the poor man. 

Jensen sighed and went for non chalant, as his accountant made a bee line for the coffee. Jared’s hair was wet, but had been fingered back. Jensen could imagine it, brushed by his hands and flicked back with that sexy little habit Jared had. He sighed, ‘Look away, Jensen,’ then his eyes flickered at his knowing asshole of a coworker, who was grinning. Jensen rolled his eyes and pointedly ignored him. He let Jared waltz around his own kitchen without jumping up to smother him. 

Eventually, Jared looked over the cans of soup and thought it over. He wound up microwaving a can of the chicken and rice, while toasting a couple slices of bread. When Jared came to the table to join them, he brought his light breakfast with him, but hadn’t failed to include the double espresso laced liquid. Both detectives were silent. Jared hadn’t really noticed yet. They waited until he ate a few bites, testing out the waters, then Jared finally looked up like he was ready to engage. 

“So,” the younger man started, “you two are quiet.” Jared ate his toast while the two detectives decided who would speak first. They were actually quite impressed with how Jared was handling all of this. Morgan took his turn, “I’m glad you feel better, Jared...for what it’s worth.” Jared put his toast down and picked up his spoon. He felt irritable, but certainly not at these two saviors.

“Did you go out and buy all this?” Jeff smiled at the younger man’s question, “Yes, Jensen took care of you so I grabbed a couple things and brought ‘em back before I left.” Jared looked down shyly. He stirred his soup while mumbling, “Thank you.” He looked up then added, “Thank you both. It isn’t wonderful knowing I puked my guts out in front of you...but I appreciate everything you did.” 

Jeff glanced at Jensen, then answered Jared, “You’re welcome Jared...and it’s okay...it really is okay. I puke in front of Jensen all the time...especially when he mixes those stupid cardboard protein shakes in front of me.” Jensen shook his head and rolled his eyes. He sighed, then focused on Jared, who seemed to have stopped mid spoonful for a second at JD’s comment, then went ahead and took a bite. 

“Actually, projectile force vomit was a good thing.” When Jared looked up at Jensen with disgusted disbelief at his comment, JD joined him with the same look. Jensen smirked, “I mean your body’s extremely healthy. That self preservation technique was it’s way of ridding the unwanted shit from your system. That’s a good thing...” Jensen could see Jared had trouble agreeing with him, “though I’m sure it didn’t feel that way. Addicts that are hooked on that shit have no problem with it.” 

Morgan had a private thought to forget the idea that Jared would ever be his brother in law at this rate. Jensen was definitely not charming the kid’s socks off right now. “So,” Morgan interjected, “you in the mood for us to discuss a little intel we’ve been going through on your three after dinner companions from last night?” 

Jared quickly argued, “They weren’t my companions.” Jeff held his hand up, “I know...I’m sorry, bad choice of words,” he sighed, “how about the three manipulative assholes that tried to trick you into things you didn’t want? Can we talk about those guys?” 

Jared nodded and continued to take bites of his soup while paying attention. Jensen’s protective instincts rose once again now that they had returned to the subject at hand. If he wasn’t sworn to uphold the laws and abide by them, he’d drive over to the jail and pull those fuckers out of their cells and beat them to a pulp. Jensen sighed, collecting himself, while Jeff threw a couple questions out, “First...Jared, is there any reason why Reiner would set you up last night? Did you have an argument or a confrontation of some kind?” 

Jared paused, thinking about the questions. He looked a little confused, “No, I don’t think so,” then his mind seemed to land on something, “unless...” Both detectives exchanged a look at Jared’s comment, before Jensen nudged him to explain, “unless?” Jared explained, “Well, I mean I confessed the job hunting to Murray yesterday. He was actually nicer than I expected about it...complimentary and all, but,” Jared seemed to be recollecting something so the two men gave him a few seconds. 

“Unless he said something to Reiner about the mistakes.” Jared’s exclamation had the two detectives focused on him. “Mistakes,” Jensen asked? Jared explained, “Murray told me Reiner was the one who ratted out Damian and that over time he’d been snitching off others in the office. He asked me if I’d been covering for Reiner’s mistakes and I said ‘yes’.” 

Jared paused...he looked a little uncertain, “I thought I felt guilty about telling him that...but not now.” Jensen asked, “You mean guilty for telling Murray that Reiner makes mistakes? Jared, how long have you been covering for him?” Jared argued, “I haven’t. I just started...like on the Tallahassee trip and then when we got back. His numbers were all over the place and it didn’t make sense. I thought I was helping the guy. Damian used to work with him, not me, so I didn’t know he was so bad at it.” 

Jensen realized his beautiful numbers expert felt like he had to defend himself, and that was not the case. “Jared, I’m only concerned for your safety. Please don’t take any of our questions like you’ve done anything wrong, okay?” Jared softened. He looked down and sighed. When he looked up, there was still a bit of anguished guilt in his eyes, “I’m not proud of it. I don’t usually like to get people in trouble, but both my bosses have this way about ‘em...” 

Jared made a hand gesture, like he was looking for words, “It’s like they already know everything. They make you feel like they know, you know? It’s like they’re testing you to see if you’ll tell the truth. I spilled about fixing his mistakes,” Jared shrugged, “because my whole point in talking to Murray was keeping his trust and it felt like he already knew.” Jared looked off and sighed, “If Reiner was mad at me, that would be why.”

Jared looked back at Jensen and his partner, suddenly resting his elbows on the table so he could put his hands together and quietly crack his knuckles. He was nervous with this whole fiasco. Jared didn’t know what to do from here. JD looked at Jensen, “Wanna fill him in on the first dumb ass, or should I?” Jensen sighed, “You can start.” 

For the next few minutes Morgan and Jensen took turns sharing what they knew. Morgan went over the undocumented investigation that was going on, which included Damien-slash-Todd, and how they feared he was probably dead. Jared seemed to think of something, “When I offered to go check on Damian, Murray got kind of pissed. He basically told me to mind my own business and focus on my work.” 

The detectives kept their controlled demeanor’s, yet they stewed underneath the surface at how deep in the middle of this nest Jared was. After they finished going through the investigations’ findings about Reiner and known behavior, they filled Jared in on his rap sheet. “Reiner isn’t new to the business,” Jensen started out, “from his history, he’s been booted out of other large corporations and had to look for other jobs. I’d say on paper, it looks like he was simply climbing the salary ladder, but knowing what we know about him, I’d say he was passed between some pretty thick underground partners of your bosses. Interestingly enough, the former companies were on that list I gave you. Murray and Barron ‘had’ to know what they were getting.” 

Jared tried to understand that one. He looked off in confused thought, “So...if Murray told me about how they decided to hire outside...like me, going to find college grads with good work histories already in the accounting arena, why would they hire ‘another’ so called partner’s accountant who is starting next week? And why the hell would they hang onto Reiner all this time?” 

Jared’s inquisitive innocence waited for an answer. The detectives thought that over. JD piped in, “Maybe they were gonna peg Reiner, once and for all. Maybe they weren’t gonna put you in that situation. They hadn’t planned on having to rid themselves of Damian, so maybe he was originally to be Reiner’s replacement.” Jensen nodded, “He was Reiner’s replacement and Reiner knew it. He had to get rid of Damian, knowing they’d still need him until someone else came along.” 

Everyone stewed quietly on that idea. ‘Maybe,’ Jared thought. “But I was still there. Why would he let me see his mistakes? And if he was skimming and stealing money for himself, why would they let that go on? If he did snitch off Damian, they’re still losing money.” The younger man seemed really confused now. Jensen thought that over, “Well...that’s a good question.” He looked at Morgan, but the older man seemed just as lost. This was something they hadn’t quite figured out. 

Suddenly Jeff had a thought, “So, they planned for Damian to replace Reiner. They think they have Jared as a solid brilliant numbers expert they can keep forever. If Jared never sees the criminal books, but stays on the crooked front end and handles all the rest of their business, then they’ve got a win...doesn’t that pan out?” 

Jared looked disbelievingly at both of them while Jensen pondered on that one. “Except, he’d eventually see the crooked end,” Jensen commented. JD nodded, “Yeah he would. But maybe by then, they’d have him so well paid and into the company, he wouldn’t want out...no matter what he saw.” 

Jensen finally reached a point where that actually made sense. He looked at Jared, “Think about it. You said they act like they know everything. They’re smart. They knew about Reiner. Let’s say they planned a replacement. Damian was the original plan. They were probably going to stay with you and Damian and let Reiner go, but he turned the tables when he snitched Damian off. Now they have to replace Reiner again with someone else. Reiner hasn’t been threatened by you up until now. He’s been annoying but you don’t threaten him so he’s been nice. Now, you’ve confirmed his mistakes to Murray so the bosses know you’ve seen them. They might think you’ve figured out that Reiner’s also skimming off the books and haven’t said anything.” 

Jared looked panicked, “But I haven’t! I haven’t been searching for something like that.” Jensen touched his arm, “I know. I know that but Murray doesn’t. These guys are used to mistrusting the whole world, Jare. They aren’t used to good guys who don’t screw them. They’re probably expecting their whiz kid to find his own way to benefit off of this somehow.” 

Jared looked sour, but the two detectives hummed in agreement, nodding simultaneously. They studied the innocent accountant simultaneously for a minute. Jared sighed in frustration. He could really do without them staring right now. This was just too much. The two detectives were on a roll. They went back to their paperwork, oblivious at the moment. Jared was glad. 

“So, what about the other two from last night?” Jared’s question was asked before he continued to chew on more of his toast. Jensen sighed, looking at Jared like he hated what he was about to say, “They’ve been arrested for date rape twice, but they were never convicted and it was four and seven years ago.” Jared almost choked on his bread. He paused and looked up at Jensen. 

“I’m sorry, Jare. They were bad news,” the older man delivered with regret and compassion in his eyes. The two detectives gave Jared a couple seconds to swallow and use a napkin, regrouping himself. ‘Jesus, what could have happened,’ the innocent young man thought. Morgan took the lead, “Fortunately, they’ve got no loyalties. They told detectives they’d been long time associates of Reiner’s. They’d partied with him in the past and used Ecstasy before. When Reiner called, they came running believing he had another easy target for them to have a good party with...they told us Reiner does this a lot. We just don’t have anything on his record to do with it.” 

Jared felt sick, thinking it over. He cleared his throat, “So, they’ve both been arrested before, but he hasn’t. And they’ve never been convicted. This is something they do to lots of people, then...and get away with it.” Jared’s statement was an open question, but not really. He almost didn’t want to know, but he already did. How disgusting. When he closed his eyes and sighed, Jensen interrupted his thoughts, “Hey...” 

Jared looked up and smiled softly at the beautiful green eyes that were locked on him. “I’m okay,” he felt like he was being bathed in warm reverence and devotion. He felt like Jensen was conveying something deep and forever in his eyes and mannerisms, but he wasn’t quite sure how to receive it just yet. ‘Wow,’ Jared couldn’t even feel the humiliation or shame from last night that his instinctive conscience wanted to. He somehow knew Jensen wouldn’t let him go there. 

Jensen asked, “Did Murray tell you anything about the man coming next week?” Jared said, “No, just that he was one of the partner accountants and was highly experienced.” Jensen asked another question, “How did Murray take it when you told him about wanting another job?” Jared inhaled, then blew out his breath slowly...he could find nothing wrong with the way Murray’s discussion went, “Fine. He was fine about it.” 

Jared shrugged, “I mean I expected him to be angry. I don’t think he was happy about it, but he was complimentary and nice, he said he wished I’d come to him sooner because he could have reduced the travel...which surprised me, but...” Jared shrugged again, “I told him I really needed to stay local with my parents ageing and all that and...it was weird, he was really cool about it. He said he wished he could keep me.” 

Jensen stewed over this. ‘I bet,’ he thought to himself. He glanced at Morgan, who was doing his own processing. Jared got up to put his dishes in the sink when the doorbell rang. The detectives were away from the table and flat against each side of the door before Jared could turn the water off and turn around. 

After getting over a second’s shock that the two men had moved that fast, Jared walked uncertainly toward his front door. He looked out the small window first, stared for a second, then looked confused. “What,” Jensen asked him. Jared glanced at him, “Uhm...it’s just Brian.” Morgan asked, “Who’s Brian?” Jared was still confused, “He’s this assistant type person. He drives, runs errands. I think,” Jared shrugged, not really sure he knew ‘anything’ anymore. 

Jared put his hand on the doorknob, but Jensen stopped him first, “You see anybody else out there? Through the curtain?” Jared peered further through the thin window covering, “I can see one of the company cars. No, there’s nobody but him.” He turned to look at Jensen, who nodded and waved Morgan to follow him. Both detectives went into the spare bedroom and bathroom, waiting close by to listen in. 

Jared opened the door. “Jared, hello,” Brian greeted him. Jared stood quiet, watching Brian recite his reason for being there. “I’m sorry for bothering you. Mr. Barron asked me to stop by and check on you since you called in sick. They were worried you might need something and asked me to run any errands you might need, or anything like that.” 

Jared took a few seconds to blink in surprised confusion, “Okay...no, I’m doing fine, tell them thanks.” He didn’t know what else to say. Brian smiled politely, “Good, that’s good. Do you need anything done for you? Can I go get some meds? Or do you have someone with you who can do that for you?” Jared answered still a little off guard, and further thrown off by the nosey last question, “No...no, but thank you, Brian. Please tell them I’ll be back Monday, I was just puking and sick and needed to sleep it off.” 

Jared thought that was pretty close to the truth. Brian probably didn’t know anything, anyway. He was just doing his job. The assistant finally left, and as Jared shut the door he realized again how odd that was. Companies didn’t usually check on their employees when they were home sick, did they? 

The detectives came back out. Morgan watched through the curtain as Brian made a phone call from inside the car, before he pulled off. Jeff turned around, “Well, they know you’re home, at least, and not skipping town. He made a call from the car.” Jared walked away to look at the back slider. He sighed, putting his hands on his hips. This was just so unbelievable. 

Jensen exchanged a knowing glance with JD. It was obvious Jared needed a few minutes to process. He also needed a smooth way out and they needed to come up with it quick. The detectives went back to work, pulling out their mini iPads and searching for more info while conferring over more paperwork. 

Jared spent a few minutes outside. Jensen knew it was freezing out there, but the younger man sucked in the fresh air anyway and took his time in his short sleeve tee. He bent over, at one point, and Jensen heard him talking to the cats and their kittens. Jared finally came back in and headed for the sink again to finish his dishes. Morgan cleared his throat. 

Jensen took his eyes off of Jared and looked at Jeff, concerned, “What?” The older man turned his iPad around and showed Jensen the screen. Reiner had been just been bailed out. The other two were still in custody, but someone had forked out the money for the head slime ball to be released. ‘Fuck,’ Jensen thought. 

Morgan finally took off, going to check on the other two arrestees from last night and spend time with his team. Jensen called his own team and listened to their rendition of things they had been doing. Jared clicked on the fire and put his feet up lengthwise on the couch. He bent his knees to support his laptop, then started perusing his emails. Lo and behold, he landed on a big email response marked with importance. One of his applications had been wholeheartedly received. 

Jared searched through the company’s holdings, studied the financial information they gave him and looked at the pictures of their six offices, their corporate center, and of their Board. He thought it looked promising. They were investors, but owned a couple CPA firms and a set of lawyers. At the moment, they were in search of a highly experienced accounting expert who could keep it all in line. 

The company was spread out, but only over the states. The only far away office was in California. Everything else was between Colorado, and Texas. ‘Sweet,’ Jared’s interest was peaked. The company was employee friendly, according to Forbes, and ran a highly accredited benefits package. ‘It sounds perfect,’ Jared thought. He sent his response of interest and agreed to an interview. When they sent back the date and time, Jared suddenly looked at Jensen with worry. 

Jensen stopped what he was doing and stood up, “What is it,” he came over to Jared and knelt down, putting a hand on his arm. Jared showed him the laptop, watching him to gauge his reaction. Jensen’s face crinkled in disbelief, “Is that for an interview?” He looked at Jared, the younger man nodding, “Mmhm...it’s for today.” 

Jensen looked closer at him, “Do you feel up to it,” not quite believing this was about to happen. He had to admit, Jared looked fine, but he really wished he could take it easy. The younger man looked pleadingly, “It’s my way out. Please, I have to go today. That means I could give notice if they like me.” Jensen gave a ‘pfft’ sound, turning from Jared with a disbelieving look, “Like they wouldn’t like you. Might as well pack your bags.” 

Jensen went to the table and cleaned up his scattered papers and logged out of his mini iPad. “Oh, uh...I don’t have a car, so, we’ll have to take yours.” Jared was just walking toward the hallway, so he stopped at Jensen’s announcement, “You’re coming with me?” Jensen said, “Uh, yeah, so after they hire you I can buy you dinner to celebrate.” Jared grinned, then turned to go get ready. 

After choosing some nice slacks, a collared shirt and jacket, Jared sat on the bed and slipped his loafers on. The email had said no dress attire necessary, since it was late notice, but this was important. Maybe he wasn’t wearing a tie, but he was damn near going for semi dressy in every other way. He slapped on some after shave and put a real brush through his hair. 

Jared put hair spray on his hands and wiped it through his hair, just like he always did. He took one final look at himself, then shut the light off and left the bathroom. Jensen was sitting on the couch, playing on Netflix with Jared’s smart tv when the younger man walked out. “Ready,” Jared announced. 

Jensen turned, casually, then did a double take, dropping the remote to stand with his gaze fixated on the gorgeous hunk in front of him. “Holy fucking shit, Jared,” he exclaimed. Jared played with the buttons on his wrists, “Is it too much?” Jensen stood in a trance, then shook himself out of it, “Huh?” Jared asked again, “The outfit. Does it look over eager?” 

Jensen was still having trouble following, but shook his head, “Uh...no, no it doesn’t look over eager...but goddamn it sure makes ‘me’ over eager.” Jared stood flabbergasted for a few seconds, as Jensen’s eyes traveled all the way down to Jared’s feet, then back up again. The younger man was watching him with a lopsided grin of ‘yeah right.’ 

“Dude, I’m serious,” Jensen looked over his lover’s chest and shoulders, then back up to his eyes, “I need to you wait a minute while I go rub one out.” Jared tilted his head admonishingly, “Really Jen, for god’s sake,” then shook his head. Jensen stepped forward and grabbed the accountant’s arm, “I’m serious, Jare, Jesuschrist, you’re gonna stop traffic.” 

Jared looked at him disbelievingly, like Jensen had lost his mind. He sighed, then turned and went to get his wallet and keys off the bar. Jensen followed him, shaking his head and checking him out from the back. ‘Fuck, I wanna do things...touch him...taste him everywhere,’ he thought. Jared turned around, “You ready?” His eyes were innocent, unaware. 

Jensen realized the younger man thought he was just kidding...trying to boost him up and make him feel better. Jensen shook his head, staring into the steel grey, “You just don’t see it, do you?” Jared searched his gaze, drowning for a few seconds in those pools of green, “See what?” 

Jensen sighed, taking Jared’s arm and heading toward the garage. “Nevermind,” he grumbled, “but anyone who looks at you and thinks he has a chance is getting his ass kicked.” Jared’s jaw dropped, as the two men went into the garage and got into the car. Jensen offered to drive, so Jared could get out and interview without having to park. 

As they were backing out, Jared decided to think about this logically, “You know, we’ve technically only been on three actual dates. Actually, last night doesn’t count, so two. I’m not sure it’s reached a point where we can be possessive of one another.” Jensen looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “Oh really? You think it’s a little harsh to snap the necks of guys or gals that try and hit on you?” 

Jared’s mouth hung open for a second. He nervously turned back toward the front window, “Well I...I mean...I don’t really want,” Jared quickly looked over at Jensen when the older man touched him on the shoulder. Jensen smiled, then put the car into drive, “Maybe I’ll just intimidate em a little. Would you mind that?” Jared seemed to miss the point of this conversation, “Mind what?” Jensen smirked, “Me being possessive?” 

Jared was so adorable. He opened his mouth twice, like he wasn’t sure what he was going to say. The younger man finally shrugged a shoulder and smirked, “No...not really, no.” He glanced at Jensen’s profile, noticing the older man’s grin, then grinned to himself. Jared had a moments thought of what it would feel like if someone hit on Jensen and it didn’t sit well. ‘Hell fucking no,’ that didn’t sit well, at all. He wanted Jensen to himself, for sure. 

As Jensen pulled up to a stop sign, Jared stopped him from going with a hand on the man’s knee. Jensen looked over and waited. Jared scooted over a foot and leaned in to pull Jensen’s face toward him and kiss him on the lips. He pulled back and met Jensen’s eyes, rubbing his thumb back and forth on the older mans cheek, “I can’t stop going over in my head how lucky I am.” 

Jared stared a few seconds longer, “Thank you for taking such good care of me last night, and for being the most incredible thing that’s happened to me...ever.” Jensen hadn’t wanted anything too intense to show today, letting Jared take the lead between them. Jensen was feeling pretty damn attached, knowing Morgan had been right on, but Jared didn’t need that kind of pressure right now. His heart was trying it’s best to show in his eyes, but he hoped it wasn’t because if Jared knew just how passionate he felt about him, it might put the younger man on overload. 

Jensen cleared his throat, “You’re the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me, too... and I’m finding I’d rather be with you than anywhere.” ‘There,’ Jensen thought, ‘that wasn’t too heavy, was it?’ Jared grinned softly, then kissed him again, Jensen meeting him halfway this time. They pulled back and Jensen said, “I think you might have miscounted.” 

Jared pulled back and looked at Jensen, “What?” Jensen grinned knowingly, “On the number of dates.” Jared searched his face...not sure what Jensen was talking about. He asked again, “What do you mean?” Jensen was still grinning, “The first date was worth at least six...if you ask my dick, it might be eight...and puking has to be good for at least another twenty...and every time I look in your eyes, I add another two.” 

Jared blushed beautifully, looking away and down. His smirk and dimple were absolutely adorable and Jensen wondered how in the ‘hell’ he managed to hold back the ‘I love you’ he almost blurted out.


	12. CHAPTER TWELVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared’s interview goes well, Jensen worries. This is a lovers chapter, definitely. A little humor, some closeness and realizations for both of them that this might just be a forever experience. There be sex! :0) 
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> FINALLY! The delay in getting this out and more has been stressful, to my readers and ME. Had to work through my weekends and I am a little old and had to recover. Next chapter is scheduled for tomorrow night, if I can get it done! Its halfway there and some sour crap is coming. Thanks so much for the encouraging comments!

CHAPTER TWELVE 

 

Jared came out about forty five minutes after Jensen dropped him in front of the huge office complex. He buckled himself in and peered out the front window. Jared rubbed his upper lip with his forefinger, as if lost in thought, while Jensen stared at him, ready for any word about what happened in the interview. 

Jared finally sighed, as he looked down in a forlorn fashion, like he was about to say something disappointing. When he glanced up at Jensen and saw the boyish spark of hopeful eagerness, Jared couldn’t contain his fake upset any longer...though he tried...he really really tried. 

The cop in Jensen searched every gesture, every mannerism and facial twitch, each sigh and possible hint at what happened inside, but Jared looked at him so regretful that Jensen expected the worst...a ‘no’ for sure at Jared getting hired. Except...Jensen thought he noticed the slightest tightening of the lips when Jared looked back to the front window, and just maybe a very subtle dimple being forcefully held back. Was Jared holding back a smirk?

Jensen dropped his jaw in shock, “Wait, you are ‘not’ trying to fuck with the master.” Jared looked at him with innocent disbelief, “What?” His forced response had been half assed and he couldn’t control the smirk and follow up giggle, as Jensen continued to look shocked at his behavior, “You ARE! You are ‘totally’ fucking with the master!” Jared laughed with another, “What,” which was completely a wasted effort, since it was so weak. 

Jensen shook his head, smirking, “You are NOT skilled enough to do that to me, young one, and you’re a terrible liar.” He couldn’t contain his own laughter, loving this priceless mood of Jared’s. “Did you get the damn job, or not?” Jensen demanded in an angry tone, even though Jared knew it was fake. The younger man nodded, still trying to control his giggle at Jensen’s reaction, “Yes, I got it.”

Jared straightened himself quickly, and sighed, looking at Jensen with another attempt to deflect the positive experience he’d just had, “It’s kinda a crap deal, though.” Jensen’s look turned to concern, “Why, what’s wrong?” Jared sighed again, looking down. When he looked up again, Jensen couldn’t believe Jared was trying this again, “They want me to start right now so that means I won’t get dinner tonight.” 

Jared’s eyes were filled with such anguish that Jensen almost fell for it for two seconds...goddamn if his brilliant accountant hadn’t tried it again, with an almost convincing whine to his voice too. Jared’s laughter sparked Jensen’s, as the older man managed to mumble out, “Little shit,” while searching for all the undiscovered little places on Jared’s ribcage that were ticklish. 

Jensen looked into Jared’s beautiful sparkling hazel eyes, swirling at the moment with misty grey’s and greens. Jared was happy...in this moment, and Jensen would not forget how good it felt to experience it with him. “Tell me what they’re like...is it really right away?” Jensen brushed Jared’s hair back from his face and placed his hand back on Jared’s neck, rubbing his thumb back and forth on the skin there. 

Jared filled him in happily, “They’re nice. They’re serious, but very different from Barron and Murray. There are five of them, I just met three. They’ve been looking for awhile and it’s a lot of responsibility so it won’t be boring. They had other applicants but I was the first they wanted to hire on the spot.” Jensen smiled, “Of course you are...who wouldn’t?” 

Jared tried not to blush at the way Jensen was looking at him. He cleared his throat, “Anyway, so, I asked them to give me the normal couple weeks so I can at least be fair to Barron and Murray.” Jensen immediately looked disapproving with a frustrated sigh. “I know,” Jared tried to placate him, “I know, please Jensen, I just can’t leave like that and be some unreliable douche,” Jared begged. 

Jensen warred with himself, knowing damn well he had ‘no’ defenses to Jared’s puppy dog pleading eyes, but the younger man’s safety was worrying the hell out of him. “I get it,” Jensen said, “I really do...and I know you want to keep your impeccable work history...but these aren’t normal employers, Jare.” 

Jared argued softly, “Well, I have to treat them like I think they’re normal employers, don’t I?” Jensen shook his head and growled in frustration, “Jesus, this is a shit sandwich. I hate you being in there, especially after that fuck stick was bailed out this morning.” Jensen had filled Jared in on that earlier.

Jared thought that over, “Well, Murray wasn’t happy with Reiner. I’m sure they’ll deal with him if he comes to work. I’ll give them my two weeks notice and do the work with their new guy until I leave. At least it sets them up with somebody reliable before I’m out. Murray was okay about this job thing, I can at least meet him half way.” 

Jared looked so hopeful and determined. Jensen sighed but couldn’t fathom up another reason that Jared wouldn’t be safe if he hung onto this job for only two more weeks. The fact that the millionaire’s hadn’t turned on Jared yet was his only agreeable point.   
“Okay,” Jensen agreed, reluctantly, “okay, but no more trips to Singapore. I can’t get to you, Jared, if they drag you away somewhere and you need help.” 

Jensen’s eyes were filled with anguish and worry. Jared raised a hand and touched the older mans cheek, “I’ll refuse if it’s out of the country, I promise,” Jared said. Jensen really wanted to kiss the shit out of his favorite accountant right there in the car, but he wasn’t sure if Jared was fully recovered from his ordeal last night. The last thing Jensen wanted to do was cause Jared to feel any vulnerability today by pushing himself on him too aggressively. 

“I believe I promised you dinner, Padalecki,” Jensen smiled softly, “you feeling up to it?” Jared smiled, “Fuck yes, Ackles. But dinner’s on me.” He kissed Jensen sweetly, then sat back in his seat before they drove out. The men went by Jared’s house so he could change. Jensen wanted to run his hands all over the soft faded jeans Jared had put back on. Jesus, they fit him just right, loose and baggy enough until he’d move a particular way and the denim would catch on his perfect ass or thigh muscles.

Jared had chosen a flannel over shirt, with a smokey grey t-shirt underneath. They grinned to themselves at the similar choice in relaxed clothing. Jensen was still sporting his day old outfit. They went to a family steak house a few miles away, discovering another like minded favorite...good steaks and baked potatoes. A couple beers into dinner, Jared brought up the fact that they hadn’t been to Jensen’s place yet. 

Jensen responded, “Well, we’ll have to fix that...whenever you want.” When Jared suggested that night, Jensen smiled, “Sure.” The whole early evening, so far, had been filled with funny stories from high school, Jensen’s academy days and Jared’s college. They talked about being ten years younger, the mishaps, mistakes and successes. 

Forgetting the awful night before, and celebrating Jared’s soon to be freedom from working with shady creatures had been the best medicine for both of them. Their gazes lingered, in between the soft smiles and laughs. When one of them was talking, the other was fixated with intense concentration, hanging on very word. There was something magnetic, something that blended with no compromise.

They finished dinner and headed for Jensen’s place. When Jensen pulled into his driveway, he handed Jared the keys, “Here. In case you want to leave, I don’t want you to feel you can’t.” Jared took the keys, but he didn’t have a response to that yet. He couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere but where he was, though he understood what Jensen was doing, especially based on what almost happened the night before. ‘Always the protector,’ he thought to himself. 

As Jared looked around outside, Jensen picked up a newspaper and pulled his mail from a box by the street. The neighborhood was on a gradual hill that sloped down toward the lake. Jensen said he had a boat. Jared figured he must keep it down there somewhere close by. The neighborhood was quiet. It was barely twilight now, beautifully clear but colder than hell. 

They went inside, Jared waited in the foyer, while the older man flicked on some lights and clicked on the fire. “Make yourself at home,” Jensen said, “but let me show you where everything is first.” He took Jared by the hand and pulled him gently around the center aisle kitchen, living room, family room, then back to the two spare rooms and guest bathroom. 

Jensen had weights and a treadmill in one of the rooms, a full bed set up for guests in the other. “Not many people stay here, but if one of my brother’s does, or one of my dumb ass friends drinks too much, at least I’m set up.” Jared smirked at the comment, then nodded. He wished he had friends here. He left a couple in San Antonio, who elected not to leave town after high school, and another group of close friends in New York. He hadn’t had time to make any new ones in Austin...except for meeting Jensen, that is. 

Jensen took him to the master bedroom, being careful not to look like he wanted to tear the clothes right off his accountant and fuck him through the king size mattress. He wondered if Jared knew how much he was holding back. This was definitely new. Jensen had never brought another man here before...not even when he was younger and testing the waters with other men. No one had been let into his personal space. Jared was different. 

Jared was feeling incredibly bold. It had been a turn around today. Things were going a good direction and his feelings for this new man in his life were deepening. Jared thought Jensen’s house was really comfortable. It was simple, charming, shaped like an older style home with dark wood moulding. The furniture was rustic and heavy. 

Jensen pulled the curtain aside and let Jared look out the slider to the patio. “God, that looks good,” the younger man blurted out. Jensen smiled at him, “You mean the hot tub?” Jared glanced at him and nodded, before looking back at the covered piece of heaven, “God yes.” Jensen grinned as he went over to the nightstand and removed his service weapon. 

Jared watched him take the flannel shirt off, then unbuckle a leather shoulder strap holster and hang it on the bed post like he’d done it thousands of times. Jensen put the actual gun in the drawer, then slipped his shoes off and walked back over to Jared. “Well, I do keep it heated, you know.” Jensen slid his hand up Jared’s back and held it there, looking at Jared with a knowing grin. 

The accountant’s brain took a couple seconds to catch up. He hadn’t even realized Jensen had been wearing his weapon all day. Jared just realized his detective lover was never really ‘off’ duty, probably expected to respond and take care of people, even during his time off. “Are you,” he searched Jensen’s face, “I mean do you always,” Jared paused again. He couldn’t stop staring into Jensen’s attentive green eyes. 

Jensen tilted his head, not quite sure what the younger man was trying to ask. He glanced at the hot tub, thinking maybe, “I keep it heated all the time. You can jump in if you want...but I’m going to shower first, if that’s okay.” Jensen made a priceless face of self disgust, “I haven’t showered in two days.” 

Jensen kept going with a knowing grin, “Bet you didn’t even realize you went to dinner with a stinky guy.” He hesitated finally, just realizing Jared’s incredible brain wasn’t quite on the same wave length. Jensen figured the brilliant younger man was stuck on another subject and Jensen had derailed it. He smiled. Jared was do damn cute. 

The accountant shook himself, “No, I mean, hell yes on the hot tub but...I just hadn’t really realized what your job entails...what its like. You’re never really free on your time off, are you?” Jared stared at Jensen, watching him look confused, then look off in thought, shrug and look at back at Jared, “I guess not, no.” 

Jensen quickly assured him, “It’s a way of life...but I chose it...I wanted to help people and that’s 24/7. We do have time off, but a real honest vacation has to be somewhere that we don’t hang out in...or live in...somewhere we don’t actually work.” Jensen further explained, “I mean I can rest on my days off, play hard, have a ball, but really if something went haywire in my own city, I’d be instinctively grabbing my guns and jumping in to help. It’s my team out there...my other family. It’s too hard not to respond...just like if something happened in my own neighborhood.” 

Jared was getting the idea. He’d gotten the taste of being on an emergency team when he signed up for the ski patrol in New York...but it wasn’t anywhere near Jensen’s career path. After a few seconds pause, Jared’s eyes bore into Jensen with a definite passionate spark, “Why don’t you meet me in the hot tub when you get out.” 

Jensen felt he had just been commanded. It hadn’t been yelled, or angrily forced, it had been cool, soft and gentle, but it was definitely a command. Something about Jared had just taken control of this evening. Jensen didn’t know if he could make it through the shower. His whole nervous system instantly ignited, sending sparks of passionate little embers right to his balls and dick. 

Jensen cleared his throat, thinking he probably could get to that shower if he could even look away. Jensen kept staring. Jared turned more toward him and slid his hands around Jensen’s waist. He rubbed his hands back and forth, feeling the muscular definition of his gorgeous cop’s abdomen. 

‘This isn’t helping,’ Jensen had a quick thought, as he felt surrounded by Jared’s long muscular arms. The younger mans chest was against his and Jensen found it hard to think. “That sounds really damn perfect, Jare,” Jensen managed to mutter out before he was kissed to an inch of his life. 

It hadn’t even occurred to Jared, until now, that Jensen hadn’t even done for himself in the last two days. He’d probably had a busy day at work yesterday, went to the restaurant to watch over Jared, then he dealt with taking care of Jared all night. Jared had some ideas for that hot tub, and for everywhere else in Jensen’s house, and they damn well included taking care of Jensen, for once. 

‘God yes,’ Jensen’s craving for this was obvious in his moan of starving approval, as Jared opened his mouth and guided Jensen to do the same. The younger man’s plump soft lips and tantalizing tongue were too intoxicating to resist. Their mouths opened wider, tongues wasting no time in swirling around in an erotic dance. Both lovers moaned in blissful ecstasy, the sensations sending sparks of electricity right to their dicks. 

They enjoyed leftover tastes of beer and steak marinade, traces that were intermixed with their own special flavors. Jared wanted to devour Jensen. His hands roamed everywhere, his body heating to a fevered pitch fast. He aggressively held the back of Jensen’s head, pulling him harder against him. ‘Fuck yes,’ if he wasn’t mindlessly pushing Jensen back toward the bed, ready to pull his clothes off and taste everything he wanted. 

Jensen broke away, suddenly, his mouth desperately trying to counteract the movement, eagerly reaching for Jared’s hot cavern, even while he was forcing himself to push away and turn. “Fuck,” the older man yelled, still being held by Jared’s arms and feeling so much heat coming from the younger man’s roaming hands. Fuck, his dick was throbbing. 

Jared’s hands didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to stop, and if Jensen got his face close enough again, he’d be pushing Jensen down on that bed. Jensen tried to collect himself, panting, but pulling away, “I can’t... ‘fucking’ resist you.” Jared stepped after his lover, slowly, “Good,” he growled, still stealing short kisses. Jensen was still pulling away, “Jare,” he pleaded with him, “Jared, goddammit...need a...shower.” 

Jensen moved toward his bathroom, with Jared following but gently releasing the older man and slowing his step. Jared knew Jensen wanted to be clean, but this cute cat and mouse little moment was fun. He noticed Jensen’s slight grin matched his own...so did the tent in his pants. “Mmmm...that for me?” Jared’s deep timbre turned Jensen on even more. Jesus, his dick got even harder at Jared’s aggressiveness. 

Jared had a feeling Jensen had never been this open, this carefree with anyone. The cop wasn’t the stoic chivalrous protector right now, he was completely real, letting himself feel. Jared was reaching into the older man’s soul and pulling those hidden pieces of himself out in the open. 

“Don’t you dare do anything without me in there,” Jared threatened, his grey eyes dark and smouldering. Jensen snickered. He leaned back and kissed Jared quick, keeping their bodies apart, of course. If his hard on got close to Jared’s, that would be it. “I’ll save it for you, I promise,” Jensen assured him. Jared kissed him a second time, “Good...it’s mine and I wanna take care of it.” 

Jensen was definitely getting harder. “I’ll soap faster than military time and meet you in there...believe me it’s all yours.” His eyes glanced down at Jared’s crotch, “And that’s mine,” then he looked back at Jared. The younger man grinned. It was roguish and telling, and Jensen loved it. He forced himself to shut the damn door and get down to business...the fastest shower in the century. 

Jared hurried to grab a couple beers and water bottles from Jensen’s fridge, took them outside and placed them next to the tub. He maneuvered the huge lid off the top and leaned it up against the side of the gazebo walls that surrounded three sides of the jaccuzzi. Massive amounts of steam drifted upward, along with a slight scent of chlorine. 

There was a wood deck around the sunken tub, with steps to the concrete patio where the barbecue was. The whole set up was compact, but convenient and beautifully crafted. The rest of Jensen’s yard seemed to be unused, but the grass was cut short, as far as Jared could tell in the darkening night, anyway. 

Jensen took barely four minutes to clean himself off and get his ass out back. God, he smelled better. He wore only a towel, twisted around his waist and riding low. Jared was just sliding off his jeans next to a chair when Jensen came up behind him. “Mmmm,” the older man slipped his hands onto Jared’s hip bones from behind and pushed his towel covered crotch against Jared’s ass. 

He kissed the back of Jared’s neck, mumbling, “I hope you understand how perfect your backside is and that if you start undressing it in front of me I can’t be responsible for my actions.” Jensen’s hands slipped around Jared’s waist to rub his abdomen. Jared closed his eyes in heaven and moaned at the touch. It was ice cold out here, but Jensen’s hands and bare chest were hot from his shower. 

Jensen’s hands slid down a few inches and worked their way under the younger man’s t-shirt. Now he could rub the hot smooth skin without any barriers. “God, you feel so good,” Jensen closed his eyes, still kissing the younger man’s nape. Jared leaned into him, tilting his head back and sighing at the older mans heated touch. He turned his head to the side, giving Jensen full access to kiss the side of his neck. 

Jensen moaned his approval, kissing and sucking on the younger man’s neck, licking behind his ears. Jared’s reaction was sensual and goddamn sexy. Jensen quickly escalated to hot overload. His hands moved up to feel the perfect torso and pecs of Jared’s body, sliding them everywhere he could reach. He gently bit and sucked the taught tendons on Jared’s neck. 

The numbers expert quickly jumped from aroused to impending orgasm, knowing if Jensen touched his dick, he would probably explode within seconds. Fuck, this man could ignite him like no one else. Jared turned his head to face Jensen’s, the older man quickly putting a hand behind Jared’s head to help hold him that way. 

Jensen held Jared around his waist from behind and pulled his head to him, kissing him with passionate abandon. The younger man was all fire and liquid heat. Jensen devoured him, pushing the sexy number’s experts’ mouth to respond. They kissed for several minutes, until Jensen had a spark of logic remind him there was a tub of hundred and two degree liquid just waiting for them. 

“Mmm,” he tried to gentle the kiss...pulling away from Jared, but not fast. “Mmmm,” Jensen finally broke his lips enough to kiss and lick and try speak. “There’s...a hot tub...that I’d...really like to...get you into,” Jensen took one last long passionate taste of his favorite new dessert... ‘well, one of them,’ Jensen corrected his thought. 

Jared’s lips were swollen and dark, which didn’t do much to keep Jensen from coming on the spot. He felt the beautifully sculpted chest, as Jared turned in his arms and used both hands to lift his own t-shirt off and toss it aside. Jensen touched him everywhere at once, loving the feel of Jared’s clenching muscles when he bent over to slide the underwear and jeans completely off. 

Jared stepped out of everything, then tossed his clothing on the same chair. He slipped his socks off next, then slipped back into Jensen’s warm arms quickly. It was freezing outside. “Let’s get in there,” Jared said. Jensen nodded and led him up the short steps and down into the hot water, moaning as it surrounded their lower bodies. Both men closed their eyes, as they leaned back in comfortable spots, feeling the heat permeate their bodies. 

Jared had a seconds thought about towels, but Jensen assured him, “That little cabinet to your right? Not far.” Jared relaxed. He had pictured running from the jacuzzi to the house and freezing his nuts off, but Jensen quickly dispelled that thought. They took a moment to unwind, but it wasn’t that long before they needed to touch. 

Jared felt his hard on bobbing in the water. It was an odd feeling being naked in plain sight of a possible lurking nosey neighbor. Well, on one side of the gazebo, anyway. He’d never been in a hot tub naked before. Somehow, doing new things with Jensen wasn’t even a concern, like in the past. The man felt like a safe haven where Jared could explore anything, even himself.

‘Speaking of,’ Jared’s desire led him to move over to Jensen’s bench. The detective stayed where he was. He was watching Jared, while spread out in all his glory with his very attentive organ sticking blatantly out from the nest of dirty blond reddish pubic hair. There was a collection of very low lighting outside. It was like candlelight, but synthetic, giving a warm glow but not enough light to see every detail. 

Jared figured it was something Jensen had probably turned on when he was in the bedroom. He thought the older man looked sexy as fuck. His thick muscular arms were resting straight out on either side of him, laying on the rim of the tub. Jensen’s groin was open, his powerful sinewy thighs spread slightly to allow a relaxed open feel. His balls and dick were just laying there for the taking. 

Jensen’s head was tilted back slightly, resting on the back of the tub, but his eyes were glued to Jared. He watched the gorgeous adonis move over to his seat, Jared barely lifting out of the water enough for Jensen to see the water drops sliding down the younger man’s collarbone. Jensen had a thought that he would really like to lick those drops. 

Jared turned around to face his lover, moving his right leg smoothly over to the other side of Jensen’s left leg. He rested his elbows on either side of Jensen’s head, looked down at him. He lowered himself onto his bent knees, effectively sitting on Jensen’s lap. “Mnm,” both men grunted, as Jared’s sensitive balls and underside of his dick rested on Jensen’s very interested cock. 

Their breathing increased from unsurmountable pleasure that instant contact caused. Jensen struggled to stay put, his eyes boring into Jared’s. Christ, it felt so fucking good to have Jared sitting on him like this. Through the flickering candlelight, Jensen could see the darkened pupils had enlarged and overtaken his lover’s grey hazel beauties. 

“Jen,” Jared spoke softly, with his luscious mouth right over Jensen’s. Jared’s eyes were darting between Jensen’s, searching and intently studying. “Can I do anything to you I want?” Jensen pretty much thought that was clear. Or maybe Jared hadn’t realized quite yet that Jensen’s body had completely sold itself out to Jared sometime around last week. It was his. It wasn’t really Jensen’s anymore. 

Fuck, this beautifully built, analytical, too smart for his own good and charming as hell, screaming gorgeous accountant could have anything he wanted...anything. Jensen cleared his throat, “You don’t have to ask. You take what you want.” As Jared stared at him, absorbing his words, Jensen thought to add, “But I’m warning you, you’re gonna make me come and fast. You do this to me, Jare, just looking at you sometimes it’s...” Jensen shook his head, goddamn this kid was hot. The way Jared was looking at him was certainly bringing him closer to orgasm already. 

“Well, then,” Jared licked Jensen’s swollen lips, his tongue swirling and dancing with Jensen’s without actually touching his lips to his yet, “I’d better get started. I have some requirements though.” Jensen opened his mouth slightly, his tongue responding to Jared’s but hungrily trying to coax him for more than he was getting. He bent his elbows, as if to grab Jared’s head but his arms were pushed back down flat. 

“No.” Jared’s command was loving, but no nonsense. Jensen’s dick was now hard as nails, his breathing increased, as he felt Jared’s power pushing his arms back down against the tub and holding them there. “That’s one of my requirements,” Jared kissed him hotly, quick, then lingered his tongue against Jensen’s, “Don’t move your arms. Let me lift, take what I want, you just come...hard.” 

Jensen’s breathing increased more, “Jesus Jared,” as he felt Jared’s hands slide sensually down from his biceps, down his chest and abdomen, to slip their way around Jensen’s hips. Jared’s hands landed on Jensen’s ass where he kneaded the perfectly round globes for a moment. “Oh fuck,” Jensen held himself where he was but he couldn’t stop the high pitched little moans of anticipation, as Jared’s hands drove him nuts. 

Jared had this innate need to drive right now. He felt insanely overtaken with this desire to push his very own detective sergeant out of his guarded place he had to stay most of the time and to just let go. He wanted Jensen to feel that, to feel ‘him’ and to know that he could land safely if he let himself be taken care of. ‘Oh, this is going to be fun,’ Jared thought as he glanced at Jensen’s face. Jensen was already losing it. 

Jared dropped his knees to the bottom of the jacuzzi. He leaned over and pushed a button he noticed, effectively turning on the powerful jets. With the bubbles bouncing and foaming, Jared lifted Jensen’s pelvis to float just under the surface. Jared smiled when the begging rock hard organ stood up proud above water. Jensen was turned on beyond belief. 

Jensen’s cock was beautiful. It was barely curved, the mushroom head perfectly chiseled just like the rest of the man. Jared licked a swipe up the shaft, causing Jensen to jerk in reaction, “Oh fuck.” He licked the head and caused the older man to repeat that reaction. Jensen’s hands clenched the rim of the tub in a tight grip, his knuckled turning white. Fuck, this was going to kill him. 

Jared enjoyed his treat, easily supporting Jensen’s weight with the water supporting much of it. He licked the full sacks for a minute, sucking on each one gently, while his lover loudly whined and moaned about how good that was and ‘oh my god, that’s...aaah.’ It was egging Jared on. 

Jared’s attention turned toward his real target, sucking open mouthed kisses all the way up the shaft until Jensen’s barely controlled thrust attempts told him he was effectively driving the man wild. Jensen was a mass of quivering intensity, completely lost in Jared’s touch. His eyes were closed and his head flopped back and forth, his moans of pleasure unstoppable. 

Jared maneuvered Jensen’s thighs over his shoulders so he could hold him up that way while bringing his hand around to hold Jensen’s hips secure. Jensen’s pelvis was still just below the water line. Jared’s long arms were a security blanket, his shoulders providing complete support for Jensen, who was unable to do anything but float in the power jet bubbles and wait for the onslaught of incredible pleasure.

‘And in my own damn jacuzzi,’ the older man tried to mock, but he was quickly crying out in ecstasy as the hot wet sensation of Jared’s mouth enclosed his dick and slid down. Jensen was sure he screamed because it felt too fucking good. Jared slid his mouth up and down slowly, completely turned on with this and loving he could do this for Jensen. 

The older man cried out and screamed in multiple intervals, pushing up his pelvis up toward the incredible pleasure without knowing he was doing it. Jared decided this was a new favorite. This was ultimately the boldest hottest thing he’d ever done and it was outside. ‘Holy fuck,’ he hoped no one had a view of this.

“Jared!” Jensen cried. “Fuck...fuck, Jare!” Jensen’s cries soon became grunts and growls of intensity. Jensen was powerfully clenching now, pushing into Jared’s mouth, even though he didn’t have much leeway. “Mmm,god,” Jensen’s fucking of his lover’s mouth became more rigorous as he neared that blissful force that was coming. 

“Mmmfuck Jare.” Jensen needed to move. He was going to come. He pushed the few inches he had, pumping his hips faster, his arms tense beyond belief. His knuckles were white from gripping the tub so hard. He remembered not to take his hands down but damn if this was fucking intense. Fuck, he couldn’t stand it. Jensen’s head had come up, his face an open collection of strained concentration. 

Jared kept his position, sucking and meeting Jensen’s up and down motions. Jensen’s cock was thick and huge, swelling by the second. It filled and stretched Jared’s whole mouth, the bits of precome an incredible salty sweet. He knew Jensen was damn close. At this angle, he could easily keep glancing up, too, to see his partner’s reactions. 

Jensen grunted, “Oh god,” his body wasn’t his own anymore. “M’god,” he tensed his hips, pushing upward even faster, trying so hard to fuck that hot wet mouth, “Jared!” His next warning louder and higher pitched, “Jared, oh fuck I’m coming! Ohmygod!” The overwhelming sensation of the jet bubbles hitting his body, combined with intense mind altering pleasure of Jared’s mouth drove him immediately to the edge. 

“FUCK YES!” Jensen felt so out of control. His orgasm pushed from somewhere deep in his core, right to the top of his dick and burst free. “FUCK!” Jensen screamed, and tightened up with a guttural cry, “Mmmmnnnnggghhuuuuuhh,” Jensen spasmed his seed right into Jared’s waiting hot cavern. 

Jerking, and pulsating with uncontrolled ecstasy, Jensen cried out several more times, overtaken by waves of intense pleasure and helpless to deny any of it. Growls and groans of pleasure escaped, Jensen’s shaking intensity finally straining one last time until his orgasm released him to drop his head back against the hot tub rim and pant helplessly. 

He struggled to recover his breathing, as Jared gently accepted the last of his spent lover’s seed before he lowered Jensen’s hips back to the underwater bench. Jared moved over Jensen’s lap again, kissing Jensen’s cheekbones, his closed eye lids and his forehead. 

He kissed him gently around his face, then on his neck and collar bone. Jensen felt himself being lovingly caressed and kissed, Jared’s soothing touch following him down from his earth shattering orgasm, but he really couldn’t move, or speak. He thought he might still be groaning a little over the post orgasmic euphoria. 

‘Jesus,’ Jared had blown him spectacularly...in the water, just now...did Jensen mention to himself he couldn’t speak? Jared smoothed the older man’s hair, nuzzling him behind the ear and kissing him. He nibbled on the detective’s ear lobes a bit, then spoke into his ear, “Was that good for you, officer?” 

Jensen managed to grin, still with his eyes closed and laying where he was. He couldn’t move, but he enjoyed the aftermath of coming like ten fucking freight trains right into the most beautiful mouth ever, then feeling Jared’s closeness. He’d let go, and now he was safe. Spent, relaxed, and heavenly warm and safe. “Mmmm,” Jensen managed a groan. 

He finally moved his arms down and plopped them into the hot water. They felt like rubber. They went loosely around Jared’s middle, holding him gently but still unable to open his eyes and participate in anything completely. “M’sorry I’m,” Jensen cleared his throat. Jared smiled at the wondrous sight of his still thrumming post orgasmic bad ass cop. “What was that?” Jared softly asked him. 

Jensen tried not to grin, but he failed because he knew Jared was loving this. He was completely fucking useless. Dammit, his accountant had disarmed him of all his natural barriers. Jensen couldn’t stop smiling at the giddiness in his lover’s soft chuckle. Jared was biting him, very gently, but taking his own liberties, wherever he wanted. He nipped Jensen’s neck several times, then his chin and came back to watching Jensen’s beautifully relaxed facial muscles, his post orgasmic peace showing every tendril of stress that had gone away. “Were you saying something?” 

Jared smirked while asking that, Jensen mentally telling himself the little shit was quite proud of himself, knowing Jensen had almost greyed out and was currently a bowl of pudding. Jensen’s muscle control was returning. He was finally able to rub circles on Jared’s beautiful lower back. Holding him was such an incredible feeling. Naked was even better. He thanked himself mentally for even buying this hot tub last year. He hadn’t known, then, that he would be sucked to oblivion in it. 

Jensen took his own liberties and lazily smiled with a lopsided grin, as he slid his hands down to Jared’s butt cheeks and moaned his appreciation. He rubbed and kneaded them, knowing how perfect they were. He wondered if Jared would like to sit on his dick sometime, whenever he could get the damn thing to sit up again. Jared’s mouth was really too temptingly close, Jensen realized, as he gripped the back of his head with one hand and pushed their mouths together. 

Jensen kissed the younger man hard. Jared felt himself effectively released from being in control, as Jensen’s mouth took over. Jensen craftily tasted and explored every crevice, nook and cranny he could find inside Jared’s delectable mouth, sliding his tongue against every tooth, every gum, partaking in absolutely everything he wanted. 

Goddamn, this kid was delicious...and addicting....and alluring and gorgeous. Jared was fucking hot...and there was nothing Jensen could even think about except getting inside of him and fucking him. If his dick wasn’t gonna work, Jensen knew he had to use his hand. This lovely accountant needed to be fucked...now. 

Jared had responded to that kiss with blatant need, feeling himself pushed to the edge by Jensen’s hot wet oral assault. His body moved without thought, pushing it’s passion against the older man, practically begging. His hips gyrated, pushing his sensitive cock against Jensens abdomen. ‘Fuck,’ he could come like this.

Jared lifted up, though not conscious about it. Jensen was encouraging him, and he went with it, simply needing to feel...needing to come. He was soon just above water with his dick lined up in front of Jensen’s mouth, bent over and breathing hard. “Jensen,” Jared looked down and noticed where he’d ended up. He’d been so hot and climbing the invisible stairway to orgasm, he hadn’t even realized he was in this position. Jensen had been coaxing him there. 

Jared heard a cap pop. There was a seconds’ hesitation, while Jensen never broke his eye contact. “What,” Jared started to ask what Jensen wanted him to do but he quickly felt the warm lubed fingers sliding between his cheeks toward his hole. His breathing went sporadic, as he felt it, “Oh god, Jensen,” the fingers pressing and circling, Jensen pushing one just inside. “Aaah,” Jared’s moan was beautiful. 

Jensen watched the gorgeous face react to his finger fucking him in and out before adding another finger. Jared was on fire. He took the second finger easily. He was already so close to orgasm, this incredible sensation was surely going to throw him into overload. Jared was hunched over with hands on the surrounding deck, not even aware of the icy bite in the air. 

Jensen worked three fingers in, not too fast so that he hurt Jared, but he wasn’t wasting precious seconds either. Jensen knew Jared needed to come. He gripped Jared’s hip with his free hand, pulling the leaking stiff cock into his mouth. “Oh my god,” Jared’s mind reeled, curving down enough to watch. ‘Jesus christ yes,’ was his last thought as Jensen pushed his three fingers further in and began to fuck the younger man steadily. 

“Aaah,” Jared screamed, as he felt his mushroom tip sucked into Jensen’s hit mouth. Jensen fucked him smooth and steady with his fingers, feeling Jared push back mindlessly. He searched for the little soft bundle of nerves inside Jared’s slippery channel at the same time. Jensen found them and made sure his fingers had the right angle to hit them every time. 

“OH GOD,” Jared screamed at the unbelievable pleasure of being fucked and sucked at the same time. He rocked back and forth, out of control. Jensen was hitting his prostate. Jensen’s mouth was hot and slippery. “OH FUCK, JENSEN YES!” Jared was out of control. “YES!” Jared cried, “I’M COMING...OH FUCK JENSEN, I’M COMING!” 

Jensen stiffened his fingers and fucked the younger man harder with them, as he felt Jared tighten up. “OOOHGOD,” Jared screamed, as Jensen sucked hard. Jared’s body bore down, clenched tight and he threw his head back spectacularly, as he came. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH,” Jared screamed, because it was so fucking good he couldn’t stand it. 

“AAAAAAAHHHHH,” he screamed again, spasming hard at the powerful waves gripping him. Jensen held on tight and sucked as hard as he could while still pumping his fingers hard against that quivering gland. Jensen could feel it vibrate and stiffen up, while he swallowing his lover’s pulsating hot seed. It was the hottest thing he had ever experienced. 

Jared jerked and spasmed for several seconds, groaning with release, pulsating hot come into Jensen’s waiting mouth until he was finally reduced to grunting and clenching through the final softening waves. His weakened limbs finally gave out, with Jared unable to hold himself any longer. He leaned heavier against Jensen’s head, while trying desperately to catch his breath. 

The older man removed his mouth and fingers and guided Jared’s lower body down, so he could get him back in the hot water. Jensen soothed, “I gotcha,” as he coaxed Jared’s boneless body down into his arms. Jensen held him close and moved him down so that his torso was under the hot water again. 

Jared’s head lay against Jensen’s shoulder, turned up with his mouth partially open. He moaned at the comforting sensation, but he was too incoherent to do anything else. Jensen smiled. This was a poetic moment. His brilliant young agile sex on a stick lover was currently a puddle of goo in his arms. Feeling Jared’s skin against his under the water was so intimate. Jensen decided this was something he wanted to do a ‘lot’. 

Just holding Jared like this, it was a newfound connection he was quickly becoming quite addicted to. Jared’s eyes finally blinked open. The younger man didn’t lift his head, but his post orgasmic soft grey beauties were an open book of satisfaction, peace and contentment. 

Jared seemed to be quite comfortable where he was and wasn’t moving yet. Jensen smiled again. He couldn’t look away if he tried. The beautiful face was looking at him like he hung the moon. Jensen lifted his hand and moved the hair out of Jared’s eyes, smoothing it back for him before putting his hand back down on the younger man’s waist. His other arm was completely around Jared, holding him snug. 

They stayed like that for the next ten minutes. Jensen rubbed his hand up and down the smooth skin of Jared’s waist and back, still watching him. Jared’s soft gentle smile was relaxed and lazy, his eyes were still filled with misty soft greys and at half mast. “You tired?” Jensen figured Jared had been robbed of a good night’s sleep the night before, and after his body’s fight to recover so quickly, he was probably fighting exhaustion. 

“Yeah,” Jared said. His response had been soft and barely audible. Jensen grinned, then snickered when Jared tried to forced himself to get up and failed. He gave Jensen a put out expression, then tried again and gave up with a frustrated self mocking laugh, “You fucking broke me.” 

Jensen giggled, trying to help his lover sit up straight. “You broke me first,” he said smiling. Jared was so cute. This was priceless. Jensen had to help him stand up, then get out first and grab towels for them. He supported the younger man, as he stepped out of the tub a little unsteady. It was freezing as shit. They dried off quickly and shivered on their way into the slider, Jared moving a little sluggish. 

Jensen went back and quickly grabbed the drinks Jared had put by the tub. He came back inside and saw a beautiful naked Jared dropping to his knees by the living room gas fire. Jensen grabbed a couple blankets off the couch, draping them over Jared’s shoulders. When Jensen dropped to the ground next to his lover, Jared quickly plastered himself to the older man’s side and spread his blanket capes around them both. 

They warmed up quickly. Jensen didn’t ever remember feeling this content, so full of trust and newly discovered happiness. He hadn’t realized this was missing in his life. He’d been living with a huge gap in his soul, but Jared was slowly filling it. Sitting here, holding the younger man by the fire, skin on skin...Jensen didn’t want to imagine a future without it. 

Jared thought about how playful, serene and trusting he was around Jensen. The older man filled the gaps. Jared felt rich in satisfaction and never ending acceptance and support. He felt cherished. It was solid and warm. He never wanted this to end and was now quite certain he was falling in love. 

After being lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes, Jensen rubbed the younger man’s back, “You know...there’s a smaller version of this in my bedroom.” Jared glanced lazily into the flames, “There is?” Something about the fire was having an intoxicating effect. He wasn’t sure if he could move. 

“Yeah,” Jensen soft deep voice answered. He kissed Jared’s shoulder, lightly, “Mmhmm. I know how tired you must be. How about if we just lay like this and rest?” Jensen knew Jared would probably conk out the minute they laid down, so he really wanted to get him into his bed. Jared lazily answered, “M’kay,” but made no attempt to get up. 

Jensen stood, feeling his own legs question their ability to hold him for long. They were both tired. He held his hand out, which Jared took, then lifted the younger man to his feet. Jared yawned wide, as he melted into Jensen’s arm and walked with him to the bedroom. Jensen remotely clicked off his larger fireplace and as they entered the master bedroom, flicked the switch on the smaller one.

Jared moaned softly, instantly feeling drawn to the heat coming from it. Jensen felt him shiver just a little at the bite in the air. He turned down the thick covering, then slipped his hands around his lover’s waist, facing him. “Don’t worry, it’ll heat up quick in here...and I’ll keep you warm until morning.” Jared smiled softly, but he was still slightly shivering, as the two lovers snuggled into the plush bed. 

Jensen turned off the side lamp and nothing was left but the glow of dancing flames. He reached over and grabbed one of the water bottles, pushing Jared to share it with him, before he put it back on the nightstand. At least they rehydrated a bit. Jared nestled right into Jensen’s naked heat, winding his limbs around the older man like he was meant to be there. 

Jensen smiled to himself, loving this. Again, he thought about how this had happened so fast. They went from a nervous first date to this. ‘This’ was a gift. He fell asleep completely content, with his arms around his gorgeous new lover. Four hours into the night, Jared woke to his very aroused body rocking against Jensen’s. The rhythm was driving him toward an unbearably turned on state. 

“Jensen,” Jared’s sleepy voice called out, feeling hot wet kisses on his neck. Jensen was apparently in the same state. Jensen moaned, sounding just as sleepy as Jared, but his body was sensually rocking against Jared’s, moving that friction between hot slippery cocks that were rock hard and crushed between them. The closeness was intimate, skin on skin. Jared rocked his hips, not being able to stop. Jensen met his thrusts, kissing and licking, tasting the delicious skin behind Jared’s ear and around his neck. He finally reached his mouth and licked the beautiful mouth until it opened. 

Jared opened to his lover with a moan, feeling Jensen’s hot presence fill his mouth and surround him all at once. The fireplace had heated the room. The covers were thick and heavy, and thin layers of sweat began to form on their bodies. Pleasure filled moans continued from both men, as their hands roamed over each other’s bodies. Their cocks continued to slide back and forth against each other, igniting sparks of intense need, pushing their libido’s higher. 

Things got hotter. Unbearably hot under the covers, both lovers broke away and tried to breathe, then passion overtook them and they locked mouths again with greater force. Their bodies pushed harder, forcing their cocks together with even stronger friction. Moans of pleasure became louder. They pushed harder. Pushing, pumping, until soon there were orgasms approaching that neither man had the willingness to delay. 

“Mmm,” Jensen moaned at the intensity, knowing damn well this was just as hot as the jacuzzi, the shower, and whatever else he was getting to experience with Jared. This young man was fucking hot...and completely irresistible. Jensen wanted him in every way. He had never woken from a deep sleep before in this kind of condition. Not like this. Every fiber of his being craved Jared with overwhelming longing. 

‘I want him to be fucking ‘mine,’ his last thought drifted as Jensen grunted and pushed harder against his lover. Jared pushed back, groaning higher pitched. God, he was going to come. ‘Oh fucking god, yes,’ Jared pumped harder forward, panting right in to Jensen’s lips, “Jensen...yes...fuckJensenyes,” Jared’s mouth broke an inch to the side as he cried out and stiffened, “Aaaaaaaaaah,” Jared came, “Aaaaaaaaah,” the gentle orgasm wasn’t that...it blew him away with shocking intensity. 

“Aaaaah...ohmygod....aaaah,” Jared cried out, his eyes closed and glorious rapture all over his beautiful face. He struggled to breathe in between the gripping waves of pleasure, as Jensen came next. Just looking at Jared’s beautifully expressive face during orgasm threw him over the edge, “Ahgod Jared,” he stiffened and shook, “FUCK....mmmnnnhhhhh,” Jensen bore down and rode it hard. 

“Mmmmmmmmnnnngh,” the second wave controlled him. He was locked up in a vice of immeasurable intensity, pleasure beyond description. His eyes rolled up and he rode the spasms, grunting, groaning, until finally his orgasm released him. He certainly couldn’t see anymore. Jensen’s eyes were closed, his face slack with dreamy orgasmic satisfaction, as he slumped into exhaustion again, still with loose limbs intertwined around Jared. 

The younger man took his own sweet time coming down. God, that had felt so good. His body was entering dream land again, at peace, floating in a cloud of warmth and sated satisfaction. He felt himself losing consciousness, but even with the pinch of a thought that there was going to be gooey come between them, he couldn’t bring himself to take care of it. 

Jensen succumbed to a deep sleep. He hadn’t even considered the mess of bodily fluids between them. He was out, satisfied, warm, safe and at peace holding his favorite person close and everything else was just lost. The next morning, Jensen had difficulty peeling himself off of Jared enough to turn and check the bedside clock. It was eight thirty. Jesus, he didn’t usually sleep like that. ‘Like the dead?’ Jensen looked back at his lover, completely enfolded in Jensen’s arms with his leg between Jensen’s thighs. Jensen smiled. He relaxed his head on the pillow and watched Jared’s peaceful face in sleep for awhile, thinking to himself how he would never be able to even consider anyone else. This was it for him. 

Jensen finally kissed his lover on the forehead, smoothing the ruffled hair back from his face, then closed his eyes and dozed for another hour. When Jared finally yawned and stirred, he did so without opening his eyes. He smiled, feeling safe and warm and happy. Jensen’s muscular arms and legs were tangled around his own. This was utter peace. 

Jared managed to scoot just enough around to face the other way, but his leg stayed between Jensen’s and his ass nestled back into Jensen’s groin. There was no desire to get out of this hold yet. When Jensen’s arms instinctively tightened around him from behind, Jared’s hands rested on the older man’s arms and he fell instantly back into dreamland. ‘Nope, no reason to move,’ was Jared’s only thought.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The men spend time together. Lovers becoming closer. Jared plans to finally lay it all out for his parents, then a trip out to check on his new book leads to some unexpected danger.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN 

It was close to ten. Jensen had realized around nine thirty that he couldn’t sleep any longer and jumped out of bed. He showered and shaved, did a lot of glancing at the vision who was wrapped up snug in his bedding, then went to make something they both required in the mornings. Jensen felt like a million bucks, for some reason. He figured it definitely had everything to do with the six foot four hunk in his life.

Within minutes, Jensen brought two steaming cups of espresso laced brew into his bedroom. He sat his own cup down and carefully held the other one close to Jared’s face, letting the scents drift into the barely twitching nostrils. Jensen smiled at the reaction. His younger lover had been stirring for awhile now, yawning and shifting without quite opening his eyes. Jensen figured this was probably what he needed to get going.

Jared sleepily lifted his head, sniffed the liquid, then cracked an eye open and sat up sluggishly to take the cup. He didn’t know why he was so damn incapable of moving. ‘Must have been that hot tub,’ his barely awake mind reminded him. “Mmmmm,” the moan of appreciation left no doubt to his lover that this was exactly what Jared needed. He sipped and moaned again, holding himself up with one hand braced on the bed.

Jensen thoroughly indulged himself, watching the sheet and blankets slide down the smooth chest, as Jared sat up. His hair was going every which way and he still hadn’t really opened his eyes. Jensen used his hand to move the wayward strands away from Jared’s eyes without even thinking about it. 

After finishing the cup and taking a few seconds to sigh with his head back, Jared peeled his eyes open and looked at Jensen. “Thank you,” he said in a soft voice. Jensen smiled, “Good morning...and any time. You okay?” He couldn’t stop grinning. It wasn’t just the adorable way Jared yawned, or the way he blinked heavily and tried to force his sleepy eyes to stay open, or the way he rubbed his eyes and used two hands to smooth his hair back...no, it wasn’t just those things, it was that this delectable creature was doing all those things in his bed. Jensen’s bed. The older man would definitely like to keep him there as much as possible.

Jensen hadn’t opened the curtain yet, so there was minimal sunlight peering around the outside of it. The fire had been turned down very low, but it still kept the room warm. The lighting allowed Jensen to drink his fill of the beautiful chest and shoulders on his lover. Jared had all the signs of a fit athlete, with years of activity under his belt. Yet, there was something tender about his mannerisms, beautifully fluid the way his limbs moved and he spoke. He was gorgeously masculine, with a rugged rebellious head of longer hair, slightly bronze tint to his skin and five o’clock shadow. 

‘Jesusfuckinchrist,’ Jensen couldn’t stop staring at him...and those eyes. There were always at least two to three colors swirling around in them. Right now, Jensen saw misty light grey smoke swirls, mixed with a light hazel which was almost gold...almost, and a rim of darker charcoal around it all. ‘Holy shit,’ it blew his mind. How he got so damn lucky that this man was in his bed, Jensen had no clue. 

The detective wanted to run his hands and mouth over those muscles again, over the taught tendons, behind Jared’s ears and make him moan. He wanted to watch the eyes change, as he tasted that heated skin, “Huh?” Jensen looked up when he realized Jared had just asked him something. His sleepy crumped up lover had the nerve to smirk, “I asked how long you’ve been up?” 

Jensen answered, “Oh. Not that long.” He grabbed his own cup from the nightstand and tried not to look like he’d been caught fantasizing. Jared had seen the deflection, however. He sighed, still smirking, and busied himself with getting out of bed to avoid blushing. 

“I need a shower,” the younger man grumbled, holding the covers loosely over his lower half, feeling the crusty leftovers on himself of their overnite encounter. Jensen perked up, “Everything’s in there. You use anything you want...and I found an unopened toothbrush for you, its by the sink.” 

Jared yawned, “Thank you. I don’t suppose you can spare some underwear. Everything else I can rewear, I think.” Jensen walked over to him, placing his hands on Jared’s arms gently, “It’s in there for you too, along with the clean towels.” He kissed his lover softly, then searched his eyes for a moment while rubbing Jared’s arms up and down, “I’m one lucky son of a bitch, you know.” 

Jared smiled and kissed Jensen, in return, “I’m the lucky one,” then he turned his face to the side, “you smell good and I stink...and my teeth are disgusting.” Jared began moving around Jensen to walk away, dropping the covers as he went. The older man faked his irritation, “Well, just ruin it for me, why dont’cha,” while he thoroughly enjoyed Jared’s departing backside. 

Jared turned back just enough so Jensen could see his smirk before he closed the bathroom door. Jensen shook his head at his good fortune, then busied himself stripping the sheets from the bed and replacing them. By the time Jared came out, Jensen had finished with the bedroom chores, poured Jared a second cup of strong coffee, and had breakfast on the table. 

Jared wondered why Jensen thought ‘he’ was the lucky one. His cop could cook. Jensen had thrown together some simple omelettes with mushrooms, ham and cheese, and it looked delicious. Jared’s moans of appreciation were terribly distracting through their meal. Jensen had to adjust himself when he got up. 

The accountant was sex on a platter. He sat across from him with wet hair and bare feet, which wasn’t doing much to hold back Jensen’s libido. Jesus, the fact that Jared had on those damn soft jeans and gripping grey t-shirt again led his mind to all kinds of directions. One of them was bending the younger man over the kitchen counter and fucking him senseless. 

‘Jesus, Jensen,’ the cop admonished himself, dropping his dishes in the sink a little harder than he meant to. Where was he getting this sudden crazy sex drive? It must have been a matter of meeting the perfect person. He’d never walked around with a partial hard on before, just from looking at someone. With Jared around, he couldn’t think straight. 

Jensen supposed his body and soul were in a hurry to make up for lost years with all the ‘wrong’ people. He thought he better come up with something to do instead of stripping the younger man’s clothes off. Jensen’s mind scrolled through ideas quickly. “How do you feel about walking down to the water?” ‘There,’ he thought, ‘changed the subject.’ “My boat’s down there and we can cruise around a little on the lake.” 

Jared looked up, pleasantly surprised, “Really? I’d love to.” ‘Keep me from jumping his bones again,’ Jared thought to himself. They had all day to do that. They both wore their flannels over t-shirts again, then donned socks and shoes before heading outside. It was icier than piss again today, but they forewent the jackets since it was sunny. They spent a few minutes walking down to the water, Jensen pointing out some of the scenery and outlets nearby. 

He explained his running route, when he chose to stay at home instead of hitting the gym. Jared was definitely interested in running together some time around Jensen’s neighborhood. “Jensen, this is awesome,” Jared said as they stopped at Jensen’s slightly older model vessel. “Can you pull skiers too?” Jared had been picturing a fishing boat, not this multi-use larger model. 

Jensen grinned as he watched his brilliant lover study every foot of the boat at once. “It pulls skiers and boarders, parasailors or anything else...or you can lay around on it, like me, and wait for the fish to bite. I’ve used it for everything. It’s older, but I wasn’t looking for fancy, just practical.”

Jensen jumped down into the boat and turned to hold out his hand, “Wanna go for a ride?” Jared looked at him, excitedly, “Hell yes!” Jensen smiled at the response. Jared took his hand and accepted the support while climbing in. He looked around while Jensen untied the tether and secured it. 

It was an icy cold January day. Neither of them wanted to kick up any chilling winds. They cruised around parts of the lake, keeping their speed down. Jared was an astute learner, eager to watch everything Jensen was doing. From the time Jensen started backing out, to the switching of gears and steady guiding of the boat out onto the lake, Jared had been glued to everything he did. 

Jensen smiled, glancing at his lover as often as possible. He could see the advanced little hamster wheels turning, as Jared absorbed every process it took to handle the craft. He asked questions about maintenance and upkeep. When he focused on the gentle wake they were leaving, he started to ramble some basic physics, calculating speed and trajectory formulas. 

When Jared turned to Jensen, he said something about the force of the movement and mass versus distance and Jensen raised an eyebrow. “Uuhh,” Jensen drew out the response, as he held Jared’s gaze and started to grin. The beautiful numbers expert had gotten lost on a roll and ran with it. “Oh,” Jared looked immediately guilty. He couldn’t believe he’d done that. 

Being with Jensen was like flying sometimes. Jared expressed himself so easily. He didn’t even like physics, for chrissakes. The younger man looked down shyly and mumbled, “sorry,” but Jensen shook his head, “Don’t you ever be sorry for being smart. It’s cute.” “And hot,” Jensen delivered with a sideways grin. 

Jared glanced up at the older man’s comment, then looked off at the scenery quickly with a renewed dimple of bashfulness. Jensen smiled at seeing this. His accountant was too fucking adorable. 

They enjoyed another hour of cruising around Jensen’s side of the lake. Not many people were out with the weather being like this. Jared’s eyes lit up when Jensen offered to let him drive. Jensen coaxed him to move in front of him, then stood behind the younger man to guide things. 

He showed Jared how to use the throttle and steer, then braced his arms on the forward dash, on either side of Jared. Jensen stayed there while Jared handled the craft, hesitantly, at first. As Jensen kept up the encouragement, Jared tried became bolder and soon found himself cruising at a smooth enjoyable speed. 

Jensen marveled at how good it felt to be up against the younger man from behind. He also gave himself a mental pat on the back for bringing Jared out here. His accountant was on cloud nine at the moment. He seemed carefree and happy, smiling at the gentle rock of the boat as they crossed over some waves. 

Jared giggled at the feeling, unsteady for a few seconds until Jensen grabbed the wheel and held him solid through the turbulence. The older man couldn’t stop the responding giggle that came up from his soul. This was priceless, sharing this with someone like Jared. It was obvious he’d never done this before. Jared had told him of the fishing he learned with his father, growing up, but this driving around in a larger engine boat was all new.

The accountant smiled into the open air, loving this moment. Everything with Jensen was always so perfect. No matter what they did together, it was as if every piece of him fell into place. He’d never felt this right with anybody. Jared glanced down at the arms braced on either side of him and realized how amazing it felt to be surrounded by Jensen’s strength. 

He could feel Jensen up against him from behind, see the muscular definition on Jensen’s forearms, just from the few inches the man had pushed up his sleeves earlier. He felt solid and warm behind him. Jared soaked in the feeling, drinking it in. He inhaled the crisp freezing air and sighed, happily. 

After driving them toward the inlet, heading to Jensen’s dock, Jared slowed to a crawl and indicated for Jensen to take over. Jared didn’t think he was quite ready to successfully park the boat without taking out pieces of the hull or dock. Jensen put his hand on the wheel and stopped the throttle, as Jared turned. He put a hand on Jared’s cheek to hold keep him from moving out of the way, just yet. 

Jensen’s thumb rubbed back and forth on his cheek, as Jared locked gazes with him. After a few seconds, his hand slid to the back of Jared’s head and pulled him closer. Jared glanced at Jensen’s lips, knowing full well where this was headed with anticipation. Suddenly Jensen’s lips touched his and Jared was lost. 

The kiss was gentle, loving, Jensen coaxing his lover to open up and let him inside. Tongues swirled lazily around one another, delicious juices blended and became all the lovers were aware of for the moment. Jared’s arms slipped around Jensen’s waist, as he moved up against him. They kissed for several minutes, sliding mouths back and forth, tilting their heads to get even deeper access. 

They slowly pulled out of the kiss, neither man wanting to end it. Jensen’s hand still lingered on the back of Jared’s head. His other hand was still holding the wheel. They stood gazing into each other’s eyes for a full minute, still lost in their own thoughts of how remarkable it felt to finally meet their perfect partner. 

Jared spoke first, “I want you to know I,” he paused and cleared his throat, “I’ve never felt this way before.” Jensen rubbed the back of the younger man’s head, “Neither have I.” He paused for a few seconds, then added, “I don’t want it to ever end.” Jared smiled softly, “Neither do I.” They stood studying each other for a bit longer, then reluctantly pulled away so Jensen could steer them in to park. 

After docking and tying the craft, they walked up the few streets to Jensen’s house in silence. They held hands, but said nothing. It was a comfortable silence, as if each man knew the other was absorbing their deepening feelings and needed a moment. This was huge. They hadn’t said the ‘L’ word but each man knew it was imminent. 

Jensen was sure he was in love, but he wasn’t sure if Jared was quite there yet. Blurting something out too fast might ruin this, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Jared thought about what a coward he had just been. He should have said it, dammit, but he chickened out. 

It was early afternoon. There was a storm due by evening, so Jensen wanted to know if they should head for an early dinner and get back. They’d eaten breakfast so late, lunch was definitely a goner. “Unless you have plans, I’d so like to keep you longer...definitely overnight again.” 

Jared smiled, pleased, but a little shy, “I don’t have anywhere I’d rather be.” Jensen slipped his arms around the younger man’s waist and took a moment to admire the gorgeous hunk. “I was thinking of visiting my parents tomorrow,” Jared said out of the blue. He shrugged a shoulder and looked down, “I live less than two hours away and,” Jared shrugged again, looking back up, “it’s been forever since I saw them.” 

Jared nodded, like he was trying to convince himself that ‘yes, it was a good idea.’ Jensen’s eyebrow popped up. He sensed this was going to be ‘the’ visit when he saw the worry enter Jared’s eyes. This was going to be a hard one for Jared. “Hey,” Jensen got his attention. When Jared looked at him, Jensen’s concern showed in his eyes, “Do you want me to go with you?” 

Jared smiled with a soft sigh. God, it felt so good to be cared about like this. Jensen made him feel cherished. “You don’t have to,” Jared said, looking down again. The thought of telling his dad about this was terrifying, but he really didn’t want to be a baby about it. He really should do this alone. 

When Jared looked back up, Jensen said, “I don’t mind. I know how hard it is. I’ve been there. If you want, I can wait in the car or sit in a diner somewhere. All day if you need me to.” Jared thought about that. His gratitude showed in his eyes, along with sweet adoration that this man cared enough to do something like that for him. It really would be a comfort to have Jensen along for the ride.

Jensen rubbed his hands in circles around Jared’s lower back. He could see Jared was thinking it over. He had to respect it if the younger man still wanted to go alone. They were his family, and Jensen was an outsider. He would wait and give Jared time to make up his own mind. 

They spent the next few minutes leaning against the back of couch, discussing whether they wanted pasta, or burgers, or a good old fashioned steak again. They decided on a Thai place Jensen told Jared about, which just happened to be next to the big book store by the mall. Jensen smiled knowingly, as an idea sparked into his brain. Jared quickly caught on to what Jensen was inferring. 

“No,” he turned to stand right in front of the older man. “No, you’ll hate it,” Jared’s blurted out statement was accompanied by sudden panic in his eyes and his hands on the older man’s chest. Jensen argued in shocked disbelief, “The hell I will. I wanna see what you wrote. Weren’t you trying to go see if they’d put it out for sale last week?” 

Jared sighed in misery, “Yes, but it’s gonna be boring Jensen, and I don’t want you to dump me when you see it. It’s not exciting like your cop stuff and all that.” Jensen barked out a laugh. He couldn’t stop it, being totally caught off guard. “Baby, for god’s sake. I already know it’s brilliant because it comes from your brain and I guarantee you, I could use the help with all the IRA’s and the tax loop holes and retirement shit. Cops have a lot of fuck ups, you know, especially with their own personal crap. Most of them have multiple exes...which I don’t, but still. I’ve got some learning to do about where to put things before I retire.” 

Jared sighed, looking at Jensen with pleading in his eyes. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Jensen’s, knowing damn well the older man wasn’t going to give up. “Baby, you gotta give yourself credit. Not just anybody writes a financial masterpiece and gets it published, you know.” Jensen was holding him in his arms now, enjoying himself, immensely. 

“Fine,” Jared grumbled, looking at Jensen with pleading in his eyes, “But it’s not a masterpiece...please don’t make a big deal.” Jensen argued again, “Don’t you want to see if it’s there? Your first publishing and all that?” Jared reneged with a shrug, “Yes, but I wasn’t gonna make ‘you’ read it. What if you hate it?” Jensen shook his head, still grinning, “You’re something else, you know.” 

Jared curled his lip up, distastefully, “What?” Jensen explained, “You’re something else. You’re smart, successful, and gorgeous as hell, but you’re so modest and bashful about it that it’s beyond cute. It’s fucking hot and I can’t even think sometimes.” Jared looked put out, along with being mortifyingly embarrassed. 

He dropped his hands to the floor and started to pull away from Jensen’s close attention, grumbling simultaneously, “You need some fucking glasses.” Jensen hung onto the younger man, barking out another surprised laugh. Jared’s comments were hilarious. 

The older man could tell this was simply too much gushing attention for Jared all at once, but he was enjoying himself to the hilt. “Come here,” his voice dropped to a low command. As Jared complied and turned back to face him, he put his hands back on Jensen’s chest. The older man touched his cheek, “It’s even hotter when you blush, you know.” 

Jensen grinned, while Jared rolled his eyes and sighed, “No, it’s not.” He looked at Jensen with stern disapproval, but the older man brushed the hair back from Jared’s face lovingly and smiled at him. Even if Jared was irritated, he was still adorable. “It’s okay,” Jensen soothed. He didn’t want to push Jared past his limits. He cared too much to embarrass him further right now and decided to back off. 

“You ready to go now?” Jensen’s stomach was growling, and he thought he heard Jared’s doing that too. Jared nodded, “Mmhm..m’starving,” then rolled his eyes for emphasis. They exchanged a quick loving kiss, then headed for the door. Jensen trotted to the bedroom and took his single holster from the drawer. 

He took his service weapon out of the drawer and inserted it, then stuck the weapon into the back of his waistband. The flannel was loose, so it wouldn’t show back there. He’d learned many years ago not to even go to the movie without it. “Oh by the way,” Jensen got Jared’s attention when he returned to the front door, “you’ll have to drive because my truck’s still at the station. You’ve got a loser boyfriend without a car.” 

Jared smirked and nodded, as he headed out the door. “Good to know,” he commented. Jensen followed the man, turning to lock the deadbolt and walked to the SUV with his lover. Jared unlocked the doors with the fob, then silently got into the car and waited for Jensen to get in. 

He started the engine, then sat looking straight ahead while it warmed up. Jensen watched him for a few seconds, “You okay?” Jared turned to him and smiled, “Yeah.” He studied Jensen for a few seconds, then looked down shyly. Jensen smirked, “What?” Jared looked up again, “I just hadn’t realized that’s what you are until you said it.” Jensen scrolled through the last few minutes and landed on something. 

“Oh,” he smiled, “you mean boyfriend?” Jared nodded, still looking ahead with a shy grin, “Yeah...boyfriend. I guess that’s new for me.” Jared turned toward him, “I’ve never had one before.” Jensen studied him for a few seconds, “That’s kind of hard to believe, a hot catch like you not being snatched up by every Tom, Dick and Harry.” 

Jared shot a look of disbelief at Jensen and sighed. “I’m serious,” Jensen continued, “I am the luckiest SOB on the planet and that’s just the way I see it.” Jared argued softly, “Well maybe I didn’t ‘want’ to be snatched up because I hadn’t met the hot police officer centerfold of the century yet.” 

Jared said ‘snatched’ with a derogatory twist to the word, “and I think that I’m the luckiest SOB on the planet. You’re an unbelievable catch, Jen, and I’m glad I’m taking you off the market. You’re smart and confident, capable of anything and you make me feel like I can conquer armies when I’m with you. I’m the winner here, and that’s just the way ‘I’ see it.” 

‘So there,’ Jared thought as he held Jensen’s gaze. He was tired of Jensen showering him with too much of the credit. Jensen was society’s protector, always vigilant about who needed help, where he needed to respond, and yet with Jared he was totally focused on him, giving him his undivided support and genuine open heart. They had discussed this the other night, when they were comparing growing up years and some failed horrible dating attempts from the past. 

They had talked about Jensen’s job, in depth, Jared gaining a whole new respect for what the cop gave of himself to protect people. The sacrifices to his own personal happiness he’d made. Jensen had multiple levels of exquisitely hot attributes and he didn’t seem to realize it. 

Jared’s thoughts were interrupted when Jensen asked him with a knowing smirk, “Is that what you’re doing?” When Jared look confused, Jensen further teased him, “Taking me off the market. Is that what you’re doing?” Jensen grinned wider, as he watched his adorable counterpart open his mouth and close it, then open it again, as if in shock that he’d actually said that. 

His eyes darted, “I,” as Jared scrambled for other words, but they just weren’t coming to him. “It’s okay,” Jensen interjected. Jared still looked a bit sheepish, like maybe he’d said something he shouldn’t have, but Jensen wasn’t going to let him think that. “Hey,” Jensen smiled, waiting until Jared focused on him again, “It sounds good to me.” 

Jensen leaned over and kissed his lover gently, “It’s an honor to be pulled from the shelf by the sexiest brainiac of the century.” He kissed Jared again. “You have to take me back within thirty days, though, if you change your mind...and without a receipt, you’ll only get store credit.” Jared finally broke and smiled. “Like I’d give you up, Ackles.” 

He turned to put the car in reverse, then mumbled, “You don’t have a car, anyway, nobody else would take you.” Jensen laughed once again from Jared’s wit. The younger man drove them the seven miles to the main mall and parked near the restaurant, after Jensen directed him where to go. The huge Barnes and Noble was a few doors down, so they decided to hit that first before eating. 

They locked the car and walked hand in hand to the store, Jared pausing just before they got to the sidewalk curb. “Maybe you can go see if it’s there?” Jared looked at his lover with slight panic in his eyes. Jensen thought maybe it was nervousness, but Jared actually looked a little afraid, “Why...what’s wrong?” 

Jared said, “Nothing,” and shook his head, “Nothing’s wrong.” He turned to look at the front window, eyes darting between all the people going in and out, “It’s just...it’s really busy.” Jared looked at Jensen with renewed fear and Jensen still wondered what he was worried about. “My picture...it’s on the inside flap, but...” Jared cleared his throat, as Jensen began to envision what Jared was fearing with a crowd like that. 

“My publisher argued about the front cover and I finally convinced her to put the smallest picture possible on the back flap but...” Jared looked pleadingly at his lover. Jensen took pity on him...plus he could never refuse those eyes. Jensen nodded, “I get it. You think it’s possible she still put it on the front cover?” Jared said, “I don’t know but I don’t want to walk in and...” 

Jensen squeezed the younger man’s hand, “I got it. It’s okay.” He knew Jared wasn’t the type to be in the middle of all that attention. “Come on,” Jensen said, as he gently pulled Jared over to the sidewalk and under the awning of a business next door. Jensen kissed him quick, told him he’d be right back, then proceeded to leave Jared and go inside the book store. 

Lo and behold, there wasn’t any searching involved because there Jared’s picture was, blown up on a twelve by eighteen poster board with a cute as hell shy grin. He was handsome as fuck in a suit and tie, his piercing intelligent hazel grey and green eyes just standing out for people to stare at. ‘No wonder the publisher went nuts over his photo,’ Jensen thought.

The poster was sitting on a table, piled with at least three dozen shiny new hard backs. Jensen shook his head, grinning, ‘Good think he’s outside.’ There were people gushing over the cute author, exchanging tidbits of parts from the book they had already read, bragging about how they were already doing what the author proposed, and some were enthralled and completely buried with their noses in the book, ignoring everything around them. It was popular, that was obvious. 

Jensen grinned internally. ‘Definitely a damn good thing he isn’t in here,’ his mind repeated. He grabbed two copies, headed for the counter, then went back and added a third for Morgan. As he stacked them under one arm, a young woman’s voice next to him caught his attention. “I’d read it just for him,” she said to a friend next to her. The other woman answered, “Definitely. He’s fucking hot as hell. Do you think he’s straight?” 

Jensen grinned to himself and moved toward the counter, mentally correcting the woman, ‘Nope...nope he’s not straight...and he happens to be mine, thanks.’ He stood smiling to himself behind four other people, waiting in line. When Jensen glanced back at the display, he saw even more people taking notice of the new release. 

If this turned out to be what Jared meant for it to be, something affordable to help people piece together their investments, improve their futures and stay out of financial ruin, Jensen was sure it would hit the bestseller list fast. He wondered if he was now dating someone that would be recognized everywhere they went. ‘Yikes,’ he realized that was something Jared would have a hard time getting used to. 

Jensen checked his watch. He was the next one in line, but he’d been in here for over fifteen minutes. When the clerk waved him over, instant relief rolled through him, as he moved to the counter. Jensen was starving, and he was sure Jared was too, by now. The friendly store clerk commented on Jensen’s purchase about how he had only gotten to chapter three and already he rearranged his household budget. The young clerk was obviously highly impressed with Jared’s work. 

“Well, I’m hoping it’ll be good for some friends of mine, too,” Jensen said. He smiled at the kid, “Thanks for the review.” He waited for his books to be bagged, then took them and headed for the door. He couldn’t wait to tell his lover about all the positive reactions to his work.

Outside, the attractive numbers expert casually looked around as he waited. He only ventured a few feet in each direction, reading all the shop’s signs he could see. He people watched a bit. It was a busy Saturday, people going in and out of businesses everywhere. He checked the book store entrance a few times, hoping to see Jensen coming out, but he wasn’t yet. 

Jared was a bit nervous. He wondered how it was going inside, but there were too many damn people for him to give in and go check. Nope, he would wait for Jensen’s ricon. He checked his watch after about fifteen minutes, thinking Jensen should be about done soon. Jared looked around more. 

He realized the huge shopping mall was attached to a bunch of various strip malls. In between the one he was currently standing at, there was a connecting wood fence. It was about seven feet tall, with a gate in the middle of it. Jared figured this was probably where employees snuck in and out, or the garbage collector’s used to get to the dumpsters. 

He moved over and leaned back against the fence. That way he could lean his weight against something without rudely blocking someone’s shop window. As soon as he did, Jared folded his arms in a relaxed stance and rested a foot against the fence. He was watching the book store again and missed the man approaching him from the right at an angry pace.


	14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jared is violently attacked by someone he knows. Jensen takes home a wounded and sore accountant, but that’s after he arrives in time to kick some ass and save Jared from further harm. An ass goes right back to jail and JD makes another helpful appearance. This chapter ends sweetly with our star accountant on his way to recovery, but he still has the next two weeks of his old job to get through for his criminal employers.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN 

Jared hadn’t been expecting the force of the man’s attack. His chest was pushed hard enough to slam him back against the flimsy gate, breaking the rusty lock. The gate flew open before Jared even turned his head and could counter balance. He fell back, landing hard on the ground, just inside the fence line. 

The pain from hitting the ground was a distraction. It felt like crumbling uneven concrete pieces stabbing into his back. His elbow had hit the concrete too and he started to fold it in front of himself with a painful hiss when his attacker grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him backward on the rough ground. 

“Uuhg,” Jared cried out from the force of being slammed hard against the steel wall of a dumpster. In the few seconds this had all occurred, his brain had been confused and scrambling to catch up. He felt his vision spinning a little, being slammed back hard a second time and hitting the back of his head.

“You fucking asshole,” Jared heard the man say. He was shorter than Jared, though a lot of people were, but the heavier build of the attacker was clearly what gave him this kind of power. He was slammed again, hard, then Jared felt the man lock a hand around his throat. His putrid breath smelled of days old booze when he spoke. 

“You got me fired, you little fuck. And thanks for the night in jail.” Jared’s eyes widened because his useless brain just now recognized Reiner, just as the man’s angry comments registered. “I didn’t,” Jared’s automatic response was cut off as the hand around his throat pushed him back hard once more against the steel. 

‘Fuck,’ Jared panicked. The air was being cut off, his vision was swimming and he was going to die back here. Jensen wouldn’t know he was back here. No one would. Reiner’s face was dark red, spittle spewing from his mouth. There was no dealing with him. Jared had a second’s thought that he was kind of proud that Barron and Murray had fired this asshole, but shit, he was going to be killed by this son of a bitch if he didn’t move. 

Jared’s hands had automatically been twisting and pulling on Reiner’s locked arm, trying to get him to relieve the force of his choking fingers. Somewhere within the fraction of time, Jared realized his fucking legs were free. ‘My fucking legs are free,’ he bitched to himself. 

“Ugh,” Reiner grunted in reaction, as Jared’s knee came up and bashed him square in the crotch. It was enough to weaken his grip, but Reiner had something else in his other hand. Jared thought it was a bag. As he took advantage of the weak second and pushed hard against Reiner’s chest to throw him backward, the man dropped the bag and came at Jared again. 

Jared stumbled sideways, desperately trying to avoid the punch Reiner swung at him and inch toward that gate. It was still open. ‘Goddammit, if he could just get there,’ Jared thought as he was jumped from behind and knocked to the ground again. This time he was on his partial left side and stomach. 

Jared looked back as the stout shorter man started to climb over him with fists ready. Jared got one leg free and kicked the other accountant in the face, rendering him dazed for a few seconds. He quickly turned and crawled on all fours toward the open gate as fast as he could. 

“Fucking little prick, you ruined me!” Reiner continued to spout off, angrily shuffling to catch up to Jared. The younger man turned back and pulled his legs from Reiner’s grasp again, trying to kick him again, but missing, “No I didn’t! You got yourself arrested, you asshole! You tried to drug me.” 

Jared scrambled faster away, as Reiner seemed to have a renewed second wind and pushed forward faster. “LIAR,” he screamed and managed to grab Jared’s collar again. Jared pushed against his hand, as Reiner raised back his other hand back in a fist. Jared lifted his elbows and braced himself for the blow that was about to come but suddenly it was as if time stood still. 

The blow never came. Jared saw a hand block Reiner’s punch, just before the assailant’s face was punched hard. The force of the blow knocked the man’s head back, along with his upper body, effectively ripping his grip away from Jared’s collar and taking some of his weight off Jared’s legs. Jared’s instincts kicked in, still on escape mode, and he scooted backward on his ass to get as far away from Reiner as possible. 

Then he saw Jensen from the back. It was Jensen. Jared realized this in a matter of two seconds, as the detective lifted Jared’s attacker by his collared shirt and punched him hard a second time. The second punch slammed Reiner backward enough to hit hard against the steel dumpster. The man shook his head, dazed, and Jared thought for just a second, ‘good, see how it feels. 

Jared then watched Jensen go into cop mode. He twisted Reiner around and slammed him face first against the dumpster, spread his legs wide with one of his own, effectively placing him too off balance to fight. ‘Just like you see in the movies,’ Jared thought. He knew that was a stupid thought and that his brain wasn’t working right. It still hadn’t caught up to what was truly happening. 

Jensen held the man flat, slamming him again each time Reiner tried to argue and pull away. He was blaming Jared for this whole thing, stupid fucker. Jensen searched his pockets, leaving them pulled out, then spoke into Reiner’s ear. Jared couldn’t make out what was said. His system finally started to catch up to what just happened and he felt his breathing kick in panic mode. ‘Jesus,’ Jared’s hand went to his throat, as he tried to roll to his knees. 

“Jared, don’t try and get up,” Jensen’s voice corrected him, as Jared was barely able to even understand him. “Don’t move yet, okay?” Jensen spoke to him again, but instead of answering, Jared just nodded, his eyes focused somewhere on the recent incident, and maybe the blades of grass that were sticking through the cracks in the concrete. 

His back started to burn in places. His right elbow was throbbing. His knees had been crawling over gravel and loose concrete pieces and they were now quite vocal about it. His right knee was very unhappy, his throat felt funny, like it was swollen and scratchy. It reminded him of when he had strep throat in college. 

Everything started to make itself known now, and even though his voice was wanting to cry out and whine at the multiple sensations, Jared forced himself not to make a sound.   
Except for his breathing, which was still a mess. Jared’s borderline hyperventilation kept at it. Jensen didn’t have any cuffs with him. He put the attacker on the ground, face down and forced him to cross his ankles and leave his hands out wide where he could see them. 

He left his knee in Reiner’s lower back, applying his weight, so Reiner would stay there and know pain was definitely in the cards if he tried to fight. Jensen kept a hand on the back of Reiner’s head, holding him down against the ground so he couldn’t turn his head the other way and look in Jared’s direction. Jensen pulled his phone from his back pocket and called dispatch, using his left hand. 

When officers and an ambulance were on the way, Jensen put his phone back and glanced over at his lover. Jared looked in bad shape. He was definitely trying to hold his own but Jensen could see the accountant shaking from where he was. “Jared, stay down, okay? As soon as I get rid of this asshole, I’m comin’ to help you.” Jensen couldn’t keep his eyes on Jared, where he wanted them. He had to keep looking back at the attacker to make sure he wasn’t trying to move his hands. 

Reiner’s mouth began to rant obscenities. Jensen ignored him. This was one of the dirtbags in the world that loved to blame other people when they finally got caught. Reiner had been using those date drugs for years and leading others to do it too. He’d served time for it, but obviously kept on. He was a snitch in Jared’s office, making it a habit to find out gossip and tattletale on people, but lo and behold he obviously had a side job.

Jensen didn’t think he followed Jared here, since he had a shopping bag. He saw the bag on the ground and deduced Reiner had come out of a nearby store and seen Jared waiting for Jensen. ‘Waiting for me,’ Jensen struggled with. He looked over at Jared again and processed the rising concern with his own guilt. If he hadn’t left Jared alone out here, this wouldn’t have happened. 

Jared was going into shock. “Jared, stay with me. Hey, you with me?” Jared nodded, short choppy nods, but at least he was responding. Jensen noticed he wouldn’t look at him. He wasn’t meeting Jensen’s eyes yet, seemed to be focused on some far off vacant scene replaying in his mind. “Your body’s in shock, Jare, and so is your brain. It’s normal, but I need you to keep breathing for me, okay? Slow it down, buddy, and try to control your breathing.” 

Jensen watched the younger man for a few seconds. He could tell Jared was trying, but goddammit he needed to get over there. It was also freezing out here and that wasn’t a plus. Jensen finally heard sirens. “About fucking time,” he bitched out loud, checking his watch. It had been four minutes. ‘Seemed like thirty,’ Jensen sighed. His focus was mainly on Jared. He couldn’t get to him, couldn’t touch him. It was killing him not to leave this SOB on the ground and go handle who he really wanted to handle. 

Reiner started to lift his head up, but Jensen quickly slammed it back down. “Shut up,” he ordered, when Reiner spouted off how Jared was a ‘fucking tease.’ He was trying to ramble about the sweet piece of ass always hanging around late and smiling all nice and luring him in...then playing hard to get. Jensen’s temper flared, but instead of breaking his oath to uphold the law, he simply applied more of his weight, painfully shoving his knee further into the blabbermouth’s back. 

Reiner growled in pain, angry as hell, but too focused on the pain to keep rambling. It had effectively cut the offensive words off so Jared didn’t have to hear them. Jensen glanced over at the accountant again, seeing he had turned slightly to the side and was now leaning against the inside of the fence. Jared’s breathing was still choppy. He held his right arm into his body, cradling it, and he seemed to be relying heavily on the fence’s presence for some comfort. 

Jensen’s emotions turned raw. It took everything he had not to let his eyes fill with anguished sympathy right now. Jared’s pain was his pain. He realized, in this moment, that it would always be so. The emergency crew came in with their bags, following two officers. They quickly approached Jensen and finished the arrest, complete with handcuffs and another thorough search. 

The medics met Jensen’s eyes first, thinking maybe they were here for the man on the ground, but a quick tilt of Jensen’s chin motioned them to look back to the gate they had just come through. Jensen watched them walk over toward Jared, but in an instant he realized that hadn’t been the best approach. 

“Whoah whoah whoah,” one of the medics reacted and backed up a few feet with his hands out. Jared’s reaction to the man touching his shoulder hadn’t been receptive. He was terrified. The second medic bent down into a squat, putting himself in Jared’s line of sight, then tried to talk to him. “Hey there, we’re just here to help you. It looks like you’re not feeling too hot. Can we take a look at you, buddy?” 

Jensen pushed past the other officers and quickly reached Jared and the two medics. His lover was just scooting away from the medic who had reached out to him a second time. Jensen touched them both on the shoulder as he scooted by, telling them, “Just a second, guys.” Jensen went right up close to Jared and knelt down. “Jare, it’s me,” Jensen said. 

He didn’t take no for an answer and scooted his chest right up against Jared’s right shoulder. “It’s me, baby. Just me,” Jensen touched Jared’s back and rubbed up and down very lightly, feeling Jared flinch but finally start to relax. “It’s okay,” Jensen continued, encircling his arms completely around the younger man’s shoulders, letting him absorb some of his heat. 

Jared came back to him, releasing sighs of pent up anguish into the muscular shoulder that he knew, as Jensen took him in his arms and held him. Jared turned slightly and melted into Jensen’s comfort, no fight left in him. He leaned into the older man, letting his fears and panic dissipate as Jensen reassured him it was over and he was okay. 

Jensen took a few minutes to let Jared realize he was safe in his presence, before he backed him away half a foot. He held him by his upper arms and took a closer look at him. Jensen brushed the younger man’s hair back and inspected his face, then tilted the chin upward to find the dark reddish finger marks that were on Jared’s neck. It was obvious Reiner had tried to choke the younger man. 

Jensen didn’t even look the assailant’s way, as they were taking him out to the patrol car. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from breaking every bone in the asshole’s face and getting himself fired. “Where do you hurt,” Jensen asked him, staring into his eyes, as he still held Jared’s chin. 

Jared’s emotions were on the surface, but Jensen could see the resilience in his eyes. Jared was strong and determined not to blubber like a baby in front of him. He swallowed and managed to answer, “M’back, m’knees.” Jensen smoothed the hair back again, gently rubbing his other hand up and down Jared’s arm. 

“How about that right arm?” Jensen had seen the accountant holding it a few minutes ago. He was still doing so. Jared seemed to forget. He looked down, looking confused for just a second, like he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten that part and nodded. Jensen slowly turned sideways, allowing Jared to see past him at the two responders only a few feet away. “You okay for these guys now?” 

Jared glanced at Jensen, his eyes darting between them and nodded. He suddenly felt quite lame for panicking a moment ago. They were just trying to help him. Jensen touched his cheek, “Hey.” When Jared’s eyes met his again, Jensen told him, “I’m not leaving you. I’m right here, okay?” 

Jared nodded, a soft sigh and partial smile showing Jensen he was definitely holding him to that. He moved aside and motioned for the medics to do their job now. Jared’s pulse was still facing, his bp high, but they didn’t feel any lumps on the back of his head and that was a good thing. Jared had recited hitting his head a few times on the ground and that dumpster, but a quick check of his eyes showed his wasn’t concussed. 

The elbow was a different story. Jared’s flannel was pulled off of the right arm, and when it was bare, his horrible bruising on that elbow plainly stood out. “Jesus,” Jensen commented, touching his love on the shoulder while the medics inspected the bruise and felt around it as gently as they could. 

Jared flinched a few times, as they searched for broken bones. One of the medics glanced up at both the men, “It needs an X-ray. It’s bad but I can’t see it. Because the bruising is this dark this fast, I don’t think it’s a good sign.” Jensen kept his hand lightly on his lover’s upper back, careful not to put pressure anywhere he might be hurt. Jared seemed much calmer now, which was definitely good. 

The jeans were loose enough for the medics to get them up Jared’s legs so they could take a look at his knees. Both knees were red with some cuts and scrapes. They cleaned them and applied some ointments. The right one looked worse than the left. The second medic looked up. Jensen sighed, “X-ray?” The medic nodded and went back to his inspection. He took out the cold packs they carried and affixed both knees with some blessed cool relief. Jared’s eyes closed and he sighed from the feeling. They applied two cold packs to the elbow and wrapped an ace bandage around it to keep them on. There wasn’t as much relief to that joint, Jared realized. It was just too painful and throbbing at this point. 

Jensen helped them pull Jared’s flannel shirt away from his back, uncovering it, then very carefully lifted the t-shirt underneath. He couldn’t stop the reactive sympathetic hiss from escaping when he saw Jared’s poor back. The accountant was definitely headed for some painful bruises. 

The medics went to the cuts first. The chopped up concrete rocks had cut into Jared’s skin in various places. They cleaned these areas and used a couple butterfly bandages on one of the deeper ones. After they finished, Jensen carefully lowered Jared’s t-shirt back down and pulled the flannel shirt back around him. He wasn’t shaking as bad now, but it was getting colder as they did this. 

The medics opened two of their instant emergency blankets and wrapped one around the accountant, then put the other one over his legs. They didn’t bother pulling Jared’s pant legs down. When the medics went back to their vehicle outside the gate, then returned within half a minute with a low gurney. It was then that Jared tensed up. He grabbed Jensen’s shirt and twisted it, looking at him with such torturous panic in his eyes that Jensen almost lost it. 

“I don’t wanna go,” Jared was shaking his head, “Please don’t make me go. I don’t wanna go to the hospital, please Jensen, please don’t make me go.” Jensen’s protective instincts when it came to Jared were automatically stopping the medics in their tracks. He held his hand up for them to wait, then looked into his lover’s eyes, “No one’s gonna hurt you...and I’m gonna be right with you.” 

Jared still didn’t look like he accepted this was going to happen. Jensen’s thumbs rubbed back and forth against the younger man’s cheek and his good elbow. “How about if I drive you? Would that be okay?” Jensen heard the medics sigh in frustration at his offer, but he never took his eyes away from Jared. The accountant had done this the first time Jensen met him, when he had been assaulted in front of their gym. Jared didn’t like hospitals, that was damn obvious. 

“You have to get the X-rays, buddy, that’s all. Then we’re still gonna get that damn Thai food and we can eat it in front of the fire with some pain relievers. You won’t have to stay there, alright? I just need you to let them do their tests.” Jared knew he was being irrational. Of course, he was injured and he damn well knew it by the all over aches and pains he was feeling...but shit, he swore to never spend time in a fucking hospital. 

He nodded, trying to offer Jensen an answer and some cooperation. He knew the man was determined to protect him, but worried sick about his injuries at the same time. “It’s okay,” Jensen soothed. He looked back at the medics and addressed them, “So, if you can just put in your notes this isn’t a refusal, guys, it’s just overwhelming to be in your transport, so I’m taking him.” 

They seemed frustrated, but while one medic took the gurney back to the ambulance, the second one came toward Jared and Jensen. He knelt in front of the accountant, “It’s okay. I don’t have to like it, but since your vitals were semi-agreeable we’ll play along.” He looked at Jensen, “You swear he’s going in, right?” 

Jensen nodded, answering him immediately, “Yes. That’s where we’re headed, scouts honor.” The medic sighed, “Okay then, at least we’ll help you get him into the car first.”   
Jensen glanced at the gate, hearing the sound of someone running toward it. “Well well, lookie here,” he said with a smirk, as JD Morgan popped around the corner of the fence and spied him. 

“Jensen, what the fuck,” the older man asked, as he quickly knelt down in front of Jared. “I heard the call out on the radio and panicked. The fuckin’ dispatcher said a 245 assault but she didn’t specify who was the victim. Just listed the caller as you.” JD inspected Jared’s neck and his bloody knees all over again, while Jensen explained about Reiner’s attack. 

He’d come out of the book store and looked around for a minute before noticing the gate that was open. Jared thought to himself that only a cop would probably remember that it hadn’t been opened before. At first, Jensen thought maybe Jared had seen some little stray kitten and ventured back there to see it. When he got closer he heard the unmistakable sound of Jared’s voice, yelling at his attacker that it was his ‘own’ fault that he’d gotten arrested. 

Jensen busted his ass running through that gate. When he saw Jared on the ground, all he knew in that instant was that the man over him was ‘not’ going to land that punch. In a red haze of rage, Jensen instantly blocked the fist and laid his own powerful punch, the force of it pushing the man backward, where he could get a hold of his collar and punch him again. 

Jensen noticed his friend was in Hawaiian shorts and flip flops. He smirked, again reminding himself how lucky he was to have a friend like Jeff who would high tail it out of his house and respond, even dressed like a dumb ass dork. It was freezing outside and Morgan had on beach wear. “That stupid mother fucking shithead,” Morgan bitched. He looked close at Jared, “He’s not getting out this time, Jared, I swear.” Jared tried to offer a partial smile of thanks, even though it wasn’t meeting his eyes. His body was really starting to hurt. 

Jensen took Jared’s keys from his pocket and handed them to JD. “The same dark grey SUV from the gym. It’s parked in the fourth space, third row from the Thai House entrance. Can you bring it close?” Jeff quickly got up, “Damn straight, I’ll park on the damn sidewalk.” He trotted off in search of Jared’s car. 

Jensen focused on Jared, “It’s going to be okay.” Jared offered Jensen the same partial smile that he’d tried to offer Jeff and nodded. “Thank you,” Jared said. He looked pretty wiped to Jensen but there was unmistakable relief in his eyes. Jared’s emotions threatened once more, as he released a breath of pent up trauma, “I tried to get back to the gate.” 

His breath caught on a held back sob. Jensen pulled him into his chest, “I know. It’s okay. I’m so sorry it took me so long, baby. I’m so sorry,” Jensen whispered into Jared’s hair, kissing him on the top of his head while holding him to his chest. He closed his eyes, cutting off some waterworks of his own that were threatening. His feelings for this man getting hurt weren’t something he was used to dealing with. 

Jensen very gently rubbed Jared’s back, trying to avoid the little bandages he knew were back there. “He can’t hurt you anymore,” Jensen soothed, kissing the shaggy head again. Jensen let the younger man pull back and put his hand on Jared’s cheek again. “I’m so damn proud of you for fighting him off, Jare. I’m so ‘so’ proud of you. You’re a fighter, and you gave him a hard time until I could get to you. Don’t forget that.” 

Jensen smoothed back the younger man’s hair while he let Jared absorb that. Morgan parked right outside the gate, Jared’s tires squealing a little at the sudden braking on the shopping mall sidewalk. The medics came back and everyone hoisted the hurting young accountant into the SUV’s passenger seat together. 

Morgan strapped Jared in, then patted the younger man on the cheek, while Jensen went to the driver’s side. “You hang tight, kiddo, alright?” When Jared nodded with a slight smile at the detective, Morgan added, “Ackles drives like an asshole so I’m sure you’ll get there in no time.” 

Jared actually snickered a little. It wasn’t much, but Morgan’s humor was helping him to feel like things might actually just be okay, like Jensen had said. They were all here. He was surrounded by goodness. The jackass was going back to jail. Jensen sighed and shook his head at Morgan’s comment, but he was inwardly pleased at Jared’s reaction. The man was going to be okay. The fact that Jared’s personality was struggling to come back was a perfectly good sign. 

The hospital wasn’t busy, thank god. Jensen got Jared right into ER quickly and used the younger man’s card in his wallet to try and cover the paperwork for him. Jared told him in the car that he tended to panic when it came to gurneys and hospitals because he was the one that had to ID his sister when she was killed. His parents were too distraught to do it. 

Jensen’s heart twisted, as he listened. Jared went by himself and was in such a state of denial and shock that the sights and sounds of a hospital, the smells and the gurney she was laying on just stuck in his mind. He swore never to return to one, even though he knew that was irrational. “I’m sorry,” Jared turned his head toward Jensen. The older man stopped at a light and looked at him in confusion. 

Jared repeated it, “I’m sorry it’s ridiculous. I know it is, and it’s been over eight years...it just,” he sobbed just once with a sigh and stopped, as Jensen grabbed his cheeks between his hands and gently held his face so he could look into Jared’s eyes. “Don’t,” Jensen ordered, his own tears pooling, “Don’t ‘ever’ apologize to me. You are the most beautiful person I have ever met, Jay, and you do ‘not’ deserve the hurt you’ve been through. I wish I could take it from you. I would, if it were possible.” 

Jensen stared into Jared’s eyes with conviction, then smoothed his hair back in a tender gesture. He kissed Jared lightly on the lips, hoping he had circumvented Jared’s need to apologize for not going in the ambulance. Jared had no business ‘ever’ feeling bad about ‘anything’. Jared hadn’t kissed him back, but he half smiled that exhausted little way at Jensen and laid his head against the head rest, still facing him the rest of the way to ER. 

After a scan of Jared’s airway, some X-rays of his knees and elbow, and his skull, much to Jared’s annoyance, some TLC to his open cuts, and a shot of muscle relaxant, the ER physician finally made an appearance to announce his findings. It turned out Jared’s knee was heavily bruised, his elbow had a hairline crack intermixed with heavy bruising and adhesions, his head was bruised but okay, and the rest of him was just full of swelling sore spots that were only going to amplify in the next forty eight hours, then would go away. 

The doctor gave Jared two anti-inflammatories, one very strong that would shrink his throat swelling and joints, the other would relax the rest of his body. He was to start taking them as soon as the current shot wore off. They wanted him to rest, and return in seven days for a recheck. Jensen waited with him while the prescriptions were filled and nurses finalized the release order. Jensen smiled affectionately at the loopy relaxed state Jared was in. He knew it was the meds, but seeing anything but fear and pain in the younger man’s eyes was definitely preferable. 

Jensen pulled the SUV right in front and stood at the open passenger door as his lover was wheeled out. He had a simple strap around his neck, which was holding his arm in a bent position. The doctor explained he could take it off when he showered and slept, but he wanted the elbow immobile at other times so Jared didn’t jolt the joint or use it while it was healing. 

Two orderlies, an ER nurse and Jensen all eased Jared into the reclined passenger seat. Jensen buckled him in and touched Jared gently on the cheek before he closed the door and went around to the driver’s side. Upon pulling away, Jensen answered Morgan on Jared’s blue tooth. “What’s he want?” JD’s voice registered sluggishly with Jared’s brain and he turned his head. 

Jensen glanced at the younger man and grinned, “He’s pretty high, hold on.” Jensen leaned toward Jared, smiling fondly at the dilated irises and heavily blinking lids, “You still hungry?” Jared nodded, “Yeah.” Jensen asked, “What kind of Thai do you like? Chicken, Pad Thai Noodles, something like that?” Jared’s eyes wandered off in thought for a second. “I don’t,” he shook his head, then looked at Jensen again, “spicy...chicknoodlesss.” 

Jensen giggled at the response, turning back to the blue tooth speaker. JD beat him to the punch, “Was that our boy?” Jensen answered, “Yep, that was him.” He looked over at Jared again, as JD commented, “Holy shit, they drugged him to the gills. Is he gonna be okay?” Jensen turned back to the front and continued to pull out of the parking lot and head home. 

Jensen recited Jared’s injuries to his friend. Jeff was driving at the same time. He’d checked on the booking of said ‘asswipe’ and then turned back to the Thai restaurant, at Jensen’s request. The man was picking up all their food and meeting Jensen at his house. “Don’t worry about it, Ackles, I’ll grab him spicy chicken and noodles and everything related. We’re bound to have ‘something’ he likes. See you in about twenty.” 

Jensen got them to his driveway and went ahead and opened the garage door to park Jared’s car inside. The short steps into the house were going to be easier on Jared’s knee this way. He manhandled his charge into the house, taking much of Jared’s weight since the shot from the hospital seemed to have turned the accounting expert’s limbs into rubber. 

Jared was loopy. His head was valiantly trying to stop swimming and pay attention to every detail around him but all he could really focus on was the continuing presence of his new lover. “Hiiiiii,” he greeted the older man sweetly when Jensen took hold of his arm and lifted him with his shoulders under Jared’s armpit. His left arm was wrapped tightly around the accountant’s rib cage, holding him up. 

Jensen smirked at the swaying love of his life, “Hi,” answering him. Jared was goddamn adorable. He guided him into the house and lowered him onto the couch. Jensen clicked on the fire and stood up with his hands on his hips for a moment. He watched Jared yawn, then asked him grinning, “You tired?” 

Jared’s sluggish “No,” accompanied by the slow shake of his head wasn’t very convincing. “M’starving,” the younger man complained. He looked toward the door, as Jensen walked that way when he heard someone coming in. “Hello hello,” Morgan announced, “don’t shoot my ass, Army rat.” Jensen let Morgan pass by him and closed the door after him, completely ignoring the jibe. 

The men settled the food on the coffee table, Jensen setting up a temporary tv stand in front of his lover. He helped Morgan spread the food out so Jared could see it all and pick something. They opened all the boxes to give him his choices. The accounting expert must have smelled the food because he perked up and turned his head, lifting it up to look at the table. 

“Oh,” his pleased observation made both the detectives smile. When Jared struggled to sit up on his own, JD grabbed his arm and pulled as Jensen steadied him from the other side. Once upright, Jared yawned again and rubbed his eyes. The two cops waited for him to reach for a couple of the items before they picked them up for him and spooned some out on his plate. 

“Thank you,” Jared managed to say and took the fork Jensen handed him. “Any time,” Jensen responded, then went to the fridge to grab some beer and sodas. He handed JD a beer, opened a coke for Jared and sat down with a beer of his own. Jared dug right in, proving to his counterparts that he had been, indeed, starving. 

Jared ate well. All three men did. Mostly, it was silent, except for the complimentary sounds of appreciation for the Thai restaurant’s chef. When they finished, JD took everyone’s plates to the kitchen. When he returned he handed Jensen an addition bag that he’d almost forgotten about. “Here, this was just outside the gate where you were...the Barnes and Noble discount code’s got your name on it, Ackles, so I know you dropped it.” 

Jensen looked at his friend, opened mouthed for a few seconds. “Holy shit, JD,” he grabbed the bag and quickly looked in side. There were the three books he’d purchased. Jensen closed the bag for a second, closed his eyes and sighed in thankful pleasure. When he looked up at his friend, he was grinning, “One of these is actually yours.” 

Jeff’s eyebrow raised, “Oh? I mean the cute genius’s picture is on it, and all, but why would I want a financial book? I pay people to do that.” Jensen sighed, tilted his head mockingly and handed one of the books to him, “Because, you jarhead, there’s important stuff in there about our long term deferred funds and that kind of shit. It was hot at the store, everyone was going nuts over it. You should pay attention to it and maybe you can stop wasting money paying someone else.” 

Morgan took the book, looked at it reluctantly, doubtful but willing to at least open the cover and see what it was about. Jared saw the exchange. He had leaned back against the couch and turned his head to see Jensen take the other two books out of the bag. He was still blinking heavily. Jared lifted his head and forced his eyes to focus on the items. 

Jensen held one of the books up so Jared could see the front cover and “Tssst,” was Jared’s irritated response. Jensen chuckled at the younger man’s eye roll, as he turned his face away, no longer wanting to see the blatant picture of himself on the front cover. That certainly was ‘not’ what he had in mind when he wrote the damn thing. 

Jensen placed the books on the coffee table and sat down next to his accountant on the couch. He leaned toward him and played with Jared’s hair a bit, being mindful not to crush the younger man’s hurt elbow. Jared seemed to be very relaxed. JD quickly became ensconced with the book’s introduction, Jensen smiling at the sight of his friend getting unexpectedly sucked in. 

He sipped his beer for awhile, knowing Jared was definitely drifting, almost melting into the back of the couch and responding to Jensen’s gentle rubbing of his hair. Within the next half hour, Jared fell deeply asleep, his breathing heavy and rhythmic. He was a picture of complete peace. 

Morgan pulled a pair of reading glasses out of a little compartment in Jensen’s end table. He obviously had known they were in there. Jensen relaxed on the couch next to Jared while JD glanced at him with obvious pissiness, before going back to his book. Jensen grinned knowingly. The older man obviously couldn’t put the thing down yet. 

Jensen giggled and blurted out, “Sucker,” to which he received a responding, “Shut up,” from his friend. Morgan hadn’t even looked up when he said that. Jensen laid his head on one side and nestled against the back of the couch, deciding to wait Jared out and only escort him to bed when he wanted to go. He was definitely going to provide Jared with a safety net and some overboard TLC for right now. The younger man was a tough one, but this violent attack tonight had injured him and really rattled his nerves. 

Morgan wound up waking Jensen from a light doze about an hour after they’d eaten. “Headin’ out. Just let me know if you need anything,” Jeff told him. Jensen raised his head and yawned, “Okay. You’re a bad ass friend, JD.” Jensen sluggishly stood up and stretched his arms, as JD held the book up and shook it a little at Jensen for emphasis. 

“Fucking perfect. That little shit right there has gotten an old warhorse to read about shit he didn’t even think he was interested in.” Morgan pointed at the sleeping accountant on the couch. “You marry that kid...and hurry up while it’s legal, since you never fucking know anymore. I’m serious, you can’t let him get away, Ackles.” 

Jensen chuckled at JD’s obvious approval of his new lover, who was oblivious to anything happening at the moment. “I’ll work on that,” was Jensen’s only response. He hadn’t ever thought of two men getting married, really. Jensen hadn’t gone that far in his head because he’d never met anyone he wanted a permanent life with. ‘Maybe,’ he looked at Jared again, ‘just maybe.’ 

Jensen let his friend out and shook his hand with double fists. They were brothers. Jensen’s gratitude and solid loyalty to the older man showed in his eyes. No words were needed about the rest of tonight. Morgan took off and Jensen went around to lock everything up. He took a few minutes in the bathroom, brushed his teeth and washed his face and hands. 

Jensen returned to the living room to find Jared stirring restlessly. The movements and sounds became more pronounced as Jensen quickly went to the couch to intervene. It had started raining outside awhile ago, but it was quiet until now. The rain had stopped recently, some humidity was moving in, and Jensen was expecting lightning and thunder to hit them any minute. 

He smoothed Jared’s hair back, spoke softly to him, and rubbed his hand on Jared’s good arm. “Ssssh...it’s okay,” Jensen repeated until Jared seemed to calm down. Jensen was sure there was a replay of this afternoon’s shitty attack going on in Jared’s subconscious. He hoped he could keep the man relaxed enough to get some good sleep. He watched Jared’s eyelids, noting the moving eyeballs underneath that were restlessly twitching back and forth. “Damn,” Jensen’s soft expletive was a vent to seeing Jared go through any more pain. 

Jared’s back slammed against the gate. His head snapped back on the ground, as he felt the uneven pieces of rock digging into his back. His assailant grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the steel, slamming him repeatedly until he choked him and cut off his airway. 

Jared’s hands went to his throat, at the same time he shot up straight and Jensen caught him by the upper arms as he began gasping for air. “Jared,” the older man called to him, loudly. Jared was sobbing, struggling to breathe, as Jensen’s voice finally penetrated through the fear and panic. He was breathing. He just hadn’t realized he was. 

Jared sat there gasping, trying to calm down, while feeling his lover hold onto him and hearing his voice. “It’s over, baby, it’s all over,” Jensen repeated. Jared snatched onto Jensen’s arms, gripping them as if he were in panic mode and in need of something solid and real. “I’m right here,” Jensen said, “you’re safe now. Feel me, Jare. I’m right here with you and the dickwad that hurt you is gone.” 

Jensen kept up his soothing words until the younger man in his arms started to control his breathing and come back down. Jared still held onto Jensen’s arms and looked around the room, eyes darting in between things in the room just to convince himself that this was where he was. He started to actually believe it finally. It had been so real. 

Jared’s lower jaw had been shaking, but now Jensen watched it calm as Jared slowly let go of his death grip on Jensen’s forearms. “Hey,” Jensen soothed, “that’s it, Jare. I’ve got you, baby, it’s okay.” Jensen kept his right hand on Jared’s left arm, while he raised his left hand to gently smooth Jared’s hair back again. Jared seemed to melt into the touch and Jensen knew he was okay now. 

Jared feigned a half smile and looked down a little embarrassed. “That seemed real,” Jared muttered with a little disgust in his tone, before he looked back at Jensen. The older man rubbed his hand up and down Jared’s arm and touched his cheek with the other hand, “It’s gonna be real for just a little while, but it ‘will’ go away, okay?” 

Jensen was talking about a little PTSD. Jared remembered the explanation from his attack when he first met him. He nodded in understanding. This had been a much worse experience, but Jared knew the cop knew what he was talking about. “You’re not alone, Jare. Just remember that.” Jared nodded. 

Jensen thought his accountant looked absolutely exhausted. “Are you tired?” Jared answered, “Yeah,” tiredly. Jensen stood up and leaned over him to look into his eyes, “Stay right here for a minute, alright? I’m gonna grab you the meds they sent home. I’m sure that shot’s wearing off by now.” Jared answered, “kay,” so Jensen walked into the kitchen to grab the pill bottles out of the little white bag from the hospital. 

He shook out one of each and brought a small glass of apple juice to accompany them. Jared took them without argument. Jensen could tell by the way he was grimacing and holding his arm that things were becoming painful again. That jolting upright from his nightmare hadn’t helped. Jensen took the empty glass back from Jared and delivered it to the sink before he returned to help the younger man up. Together, they got Jared slowly to the back bedroom. 

Jensen had to help him into the bathroom, but Jared was pretty steady and able to pee on his own and wash up for bed. When he called out softly to Jensen, the older man opened the door and came and supported his weight so he could get to the bed without using the bad knee. 

Jared undressed quite carefully with Jensen’s help. The older man put a pajama top on him so they wouldn’t have to deal with a pull over the next day when things might be even worse. Jared used his good leg to raise up enough for Jensen to slide his jeans off and get him into pajama bottoms. Once he was in comfortable sleep clothes, he started to feel better. ‘Or maybe it was the meds,’ Jared realized. 

‘Ohmygod,’ his head was starting to swim. The pain was going away, though, so Jared counted his blessings. He moaned, feeling blessed relief starting to roll through his injuries. Jensen smiled at his handiwork. Jared yawned, blinking heavily and took a few seconds to even realize Jensen had bent over and was watching him face to face. “Hi,” Jared dreamily and smiled, feeling pretty good now. 

Jensen smirked, “I’m gonna help you lie back, okay? Get you settled under the covers?” Jensen waited for Jared to answer, but instead the sluggish adorable genius just nodded and said “kay.” Jensen snickered to himself as he manhandled his gorgeous accountant into a supine position, then worked the heavy covers down and over him. Jared moaned a heavenly sound, nestling himself back into the thick plush bedding with Jensen shaking his head and smiling. He couldn’t get enough of this man...and especially on heavy painkillers, he was even cuter. 

“You feeling good?” Jensen had to ask, hoping for another adorable reaction, but Jared seemed to miss the question and snuggled onto his right side and closed his eyes. Well, it wasn’t going to take much to get the younger man to sleep, Jensen supposed. He quickly got himself changed and turned the fireplace in the living room off. Jensen brought two water bottles into the bedroom and sat them next to the bed. He turned the fireplace down just a tad and slipped into bed next to his lover. 

Jensen turned onto his left side and faced Jared, slipping his hand around the kid’s waist. Jared didn’t move. Jensen could tell he was out cold. He leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead, then rested back onto his own pillow and followed his lover into dreamland. Jensen remembered the numbers ace wanted to visit his parents tomorrow, but he seriously doubted that was going to happen. Jared probably wouldn’t be able to move by tomorrow.


	15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues right from fourteen’s ending. Jared recovers from being attacked and gets back on his feet. The lovers become closer and there is sex here. There are some heartfelt conversations, some intense emotions discussed. The boys go back to work and Jensen worries about his favorite accountant. Jensen’s work day doesn’t end without some trauma, but he now has someone to go home to. 
> 
> Warnings: Light warnings here, in case anyone is sensitive to the subject of a date rape drug. It’s in the past and being discussed only, but it’s a very real life assault that happens to people. Additionally, there’s a very sad accident that Jensen handles, which could bother some people. A death is involved and it’s sad, but it goes with Jensen’s job. We have a little JD Morgan in this chapter again. :0)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jensen had called it right. Jared awoke in loads of pain the next morning. Jensen had to rush him a piece of toast and some milk, just to give his stomach the buffer it needed before downing his medication. Once they started to kick in, the poor suffering man could finally think about getting up to use the bathroom. 

Walking was interesting. He hunched over and hissed like an old man, barely able to hold his weight up while he used the toilet and brushed his teeth. When he leaned on the counter and took a breather, Jensen could feel Jared’s body thrumming with tension, just from supporting itself. 

Jared ate oatmeal for breakfast and happily downed his espresso, before insisting that he walk around to try and loosen things up. Jensen argued at first, but it wasn’t too heartfelt because he realized he was dealing with a fresh victim. Jared wasn’t just his lover today, he was recovering from something traumatic that had happened out of his control. If he needed to feel like he was in control by being a little active, that’s what Jensen would go with. 

They walked around the house at Jared’s speed. The house wasn’t huge, but at Jared’s pace, it was kind of a significant distance for him. It was still raining outside. The younger man spent a long while watching the water come down through the slider. He circled through the bedrooms, easing himself to speed up a bit. Within about thirty minutes, Jared had worn himself out, but he felt amazingly better about things. 

He lowered himself into Jensen’s large recliner, with Jensen’s help. Once he was comfortable, Jensen put the foot rest up and Jared moaned in blissful appreciation. This position was heavenly for some reason. Jared had never even tried out this chair. Jensen watched him for a few seconds, hands on his hips. When Jared opened his eyes again, he smiled up at his lover. 

“Thank you,” Jared’s sweet drug induced sentiment went straight to Jensen’s core. He snickered in response, leaning over with his hands on his knees to look closer into Jared’s dilated eyes. “How ya doin,” Jensen asked. Jared smiled again, blinking heavily and nodding, “Mmmmso much bettr.” He sighed and nestled his head to the side a bit, then thanked Jensen again with barely audible words and fell fast asleep. 

Jensen leaned closer and kissed the younger man’s forehead, gently smoothing the hair back from his face. He figured his wonder genius would be out for the count for awhile. The double muscle relaxants packed quite a punch. He left Jared to his slumber and did some household chores. Morgan called to ask about the accountant about mid day. “He’s fine,” Jensen told him, “a little worse for wear but he doesn’t stay down too well. He wants to fly around the house when he can barely move.” 

Jensen’s bitch was loose and JD knew it. He could hear the pride in Jensen’s voice about how strong of a person Jared was. “That’s our boy,” was JD’s response. “Hey, I checked on asswipe and he’s on a ‘no bail. His arraignment’s on Tuesday for the new felonies, so at least he’ll be off the street until some judge let’s him bail because of overcrowding.” 

Jensen sighed, “Let’s fucking hope they wouldn’t be that stupid.” JD explained, “We’ve seen it before.” Jensen replied, “I know, I know,” glancing at his lover in hopes that Jared’s hard times were completely over. Morgan piped in, “By the way, you know why I’m calling so late?” Jensen asked mockingly, “Hot date after you left here?” 

Morgan chuckled, “No, your fucking genius kept me up all night with his pre-tax deduction strategies. I couldn’t sleep until I logged on at three in the morning to change my withholdings for my deferred health savings. Little shit’s making me work and I’m only on chapter two!” 

Jensen barked out laughing at his friend, “Don’t ever bitch that I never buy you anything, dick.” He glanced at his said genius again, fondly, as JD chuckled again, “I won’t. Your new squeeze is gonna make me a rich man. Of course, I’ll be in a wheelchair by the time I get there.” Jensen continued the banter, “Well, at least you’ll be able to afford one...maybe two. And hey, I’m with you. I haven’t started reading that thing yet because I’m sure I’ll be rearranging everything too.” 

Morgan told Jensen again to let him know if he or the kid needed anything. Jensen thanked him and hung up. He made some calls to his team who worked weekends, just to keep up on the cases they were working on. Jensen thought maybe he’d order a pizza for lunch and have it delivered. If he put on some movies, he could try and keep the younger man off his feet a bit when he woke up. 

The cop kept himself busy with some on line banking and looking over a few police reports that needed his approval. He finally ordered a pizza at one o’clock, thinking Jared’s heavy medication was probably going to start tapering off soon. Lunch arrived and Jared had still not woken up. Jensen went over and checked on him closely. The younger man was so still, Jensen felt his chest, just to make sure he was breathing. 

Jensen ate a few slices of the delicious hot lunch and put the rest in the oven on warm. He settled on his couch with a beer and flicked through some Netflix movies, finally landing on something he’d never seen before. An hour into the movie, Jensen looked over at the sound of Jared waking up. He put the movie on pause and got up to go lean over the chair and touch Jared on the arm. 

“Hey,” Jensen greeted the sleepy man, watching him with concern as Jared rubbed his eyes with his good arm and worked his way to consciousness. Jared yawned, lifted his head and looked around, blinking heavily. “Hey,” he responded sleepily, finally noticing Jensen was next to him. 

Jensen squeezed the younger man’s bent arm that was still being held by the simple strap, “How is everything feeling?” Jared finally finished blinking heavily, his eyes deciding to remain open. He thought that over and nodded, “Better.” Jensen waited a few seconds, and Jared added, “Better than this morning anyway.” 

Jensen grinned slightly at the assessment until Jared yawned once more and looked at him with a sudden plea in his eyes, “Is there food? I’m starving.” Jensen responded with a mocking half smile, thinking to himself how terribly cute Jared was. “Of course there’s food...I’ve been saving pizza for you for hours, dude.” 

Jensen stood, as Jared’s eyes lit up, “Pizza?” Jensen grinned down at him, “I hope the all meat’s okay.” Jared eagerly responded, “God yes.” He started to get up, but Jensen put his hand on Jared’s chest, “Let’s not spoil a good moment by moving your injuries around again, okay? I’ll bring it to you.” Jared realized Jensen was right. He felt really good at the moment and aggravating anything was going to screw that up. 

Jared nodded, just before Jensen leaned in for a quick kiss. “I’ll be right back.” Jensen left before Jared had the chance to thank him, once again, for spoiling the hell out of him. The rest of the afternoon went well, as well as Jensen could expect. Jared was quite the trooper. He moaned sinfully through three rich slices of delicious pizza and a Sprite, then watched a movie with Jensen. He used his good arm, pissy about the sling being on his writing hand and how that was going to impact him at work, but he stuck with the doctor’s instructions. 

Jared drank the water Jensen pushed on him, after a second Sprite, then by early evening told Jensen that the elbow was really the only injury that still hurt with a vengeance. Everything else felt better, even the swollen knee...and that was after he’d walked to the bathroom on it. 

After a light dinner, Jared was popping only one of the muscle relaxants and making a pretty steady trek to the bathroom and back, on his own. Jensen was impressed. He thought it would have been a couple days, at least, before Jared could stop taking the double meds. The younger man was definitely a fast healer and it was probably due to his healthy physique and screaming metabolism. 

So far, it seemed that Jared’s system was simply healing quicker than average. That didn’t mean Jensen didn’t watch him closely, however, continually assessing his mood, just to make sure the kid wasn’t faking anything. After they settled on the couch, Jensen showed Jared some old photo’s of his family...then some of his Army term. Jensen had never shared with someone like this. For a moment, he wondered who the hell had taken over his body. With Jared, it seemed like he had no guards up. Things just poured out of him. 

Jensen soon found himself answering Jared’s gentle questions about his mother. The kid was a focused listener, glued to Jensen’s every word. He loved that Jensen was comfortable enough to tell him so much and it showed in his eyes the reverence he had for everything Jensen was willing to share. 

By the time they were done, Jensen realized how healing it had been to relive so many happy and humorous times before his mother died. “I’m so glad you had each other, Jensen...and that you still do. If she had to leave, she left you in good hands.” Jared spoke softly, touching his left hand to Jensen’s cheek. His eyes were full of kindness and understanding at the unimaginable loss Jensen had felt when his mother passed away. 

Jensen leaned his cheek into Jared’s head, closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened his eyes, he met Jared’s gaze and could not look away. Jensen was locked into Jared’s light grey depths. He wasn’t trapped by the look of an ‘I’m sorry,’ or the common sympathetic look that most people tried to convey...this was a look of connection. This was a sharing of souls. Jared understood. 

Jensen didn’t need to remind himself that Jared knew loss. The accounting expert knew the pieces of your soul that were ripped from you, scarring every cell in your being for life, when someone you loved was taken from you. It was unfair. It hurt...and it never stopped. Jared knew what that felt like and how hard it was to deal with. He also knew you never forgot. You went on and learned to laugh again, live and love, but you never stopped remembering, or hurting. 

Jensen leaned over to put the albums on the coffee table, then leaned back next to Jared comfortably. He stretched his arm along the back of the couch, behind Jared’s head. Jensen melted when Jared put his head back on the arm and turned his head toward him. Both men instinctively adjusted their bodies to face each other more. It felt so natural to be like this. Everything melded together without any effort. 

Jensen bent the arm Jared was resting his head on and began playing with Jared’s hair. He rested his other hand on top of Jared’s, which was laying loosely on Jensen’s thigh.   
The accountant had never dressed in real clothes today. Jensen convinced him to stay in the borrowed pajamas. It was a soft godsend to Jared’s bruises and cuts, and Jared now realized it was the reason he was feeling so much better. They’d taken it easy all day and pumped the muscle relaxants. He was recovering fast. 

Jared yawned, but he didn’t want this weekend to end, so he certainly wasn’t going to admit to being tired again. Christ, he’d taken a three hour nap this morning. “Jen,” Jared’s soft inquiry caused the older man to tilt his head so he could see Jared’s face better. “What is it?” Jared studied him for a moment, thinking maybe he shouldn’t be telling this. 

There was something he’d never told anybody. For some ridiculous reason, Jared felt like sharing it, but he wasn’t sure what Jensen would think. He’d dreamt about it, only once in the last week, and only because of that damn experience in the restaurant with Reiner’s stupid friends. 

Jared sighed, then spent a few seconds looking away to gather some courage. Jensen’s curious gaze was locked onto Jared when he turned back and began, “I want to tell you something. It was ten years ago...but the thing with Reiner kind of brought it back. I’m not whining, I just want you to know how grateful I am.” 

Jensen steeled himself inside. He had a feeling he was going to hear something he wasn’t going to like. Within minutes, Jensen realized that had been the mental understatement of the century. “When I was in New York, I had made a few good friends in the first year there,” Jared started out, “They were good ones...nice...funny. I usually went to parties with them, like after work parties, stuff like that. We helped each other get started, worked on our success.” 

Jensen listened, picturing a young adorable dimple laden Jared showing up in the financial world. The kid was probably a magnet for meat markets and predators with his charming innocence and sex on a stick build. ‘Jesusfuckinchrist,’ Jensen sighed mentally. He had to stop going there because it was causing his skin to crawl at this kid being unprotected while in the middle of it all. 

“The Wall Street gang isn’t bad,” Jared continued, “but it’s fast moving and career based. Everyone compete’s constantly. You really have to speed up and bust your ass not to miss a thing, or you’ll get left behind.” Jensen stayed quiet. “I’m a Texas boy,” Jared continued, “I wanted the career, but that kind of fast lane wasn’t really suited for me. So I struggled,” Jared shrugged with a sigh.

He paused for a few seconds, then continued, “It was really a struggle to figure out who I could trust and who was just an acquaintance. I stuck to the few friends I had made and could rely on most of the time. Funny how most of the ones in my group were from small towns or the mid west. We helped each other.” 

Jared glanced at Jensen, “I think they’ll visit, at some point, so they’ll get to meet you. They’re really the only people that kept me sane. I think we did that for each other.” Jensen smiled, as Jared looked off and continued, “They hit the gay clubs with me, supported me when I was trying to figure out who I was. Only one of them is gay, one is bi, but we did everything as a group, so I did straight clubs too. We didn’t do much apart.”

Jensen waited. He was happy with Jared’s memory, but he had a twisted feeling in his gut that something was coming he was going to absolutely hate. Jared kept going, “Eventually, the tight circle expanded to more friends so I thought I was doing pretty well...at least I thought it was cool that I wasn’t isolating myself with just four other people, anyway.” Jared looked further away from Jensen for a few seconds and sighed. 

When he looked back at Jensen, the older man had concern and worry in his eyes. These new people weren’t the same, Jensen knew this already. He forced his protective anger to stay dormant, as Jared continued, “Anyway, for some reason, I needed you to know that someone putting a drug in my drink wasn’t a new experience for me.”

Jared looked down and sighed. When he looked up, he added, “The fact that you were there...you saving me from having to go through that again is...” Jared shook his head, “You can’t imagine what that means to me.” Jensen focused on the beautiful hazel grey beauties which were wide open to him with heartfelt gratitude and adoration. 

The cop was overwhelmed. He hadn’t known this about his lover. His insides absorbed this openness Jared was willingly sharing, but his inner protective instincts were having a war with the tender side of his thoughts. Surely, there was somebody out there Jensen could snap like a twig for hurting Jared before he met him. No holds barred, Jensen wanted to hurt them...badly.

Jared didn’t need to see his anger right now, Jensen knew this. It was the only reason he was able to push his rage down deep at the thought of someone else using a date rape drug on this innocent creature. “What happened?” Jensen’s soft question was accompanied by the irresistible comfort of his hand rubbing Jared’s hair. The tenderness in his voice and mannerism’s were no match to the seething rage he felt on the inside.

“A party,” Jared said, “There were people there I didn’t know and my idiot friends thought they were nice. There had been some reports of that kind of thing going around, but no one ever thinks it’s going to happen to them.” Jared’s comment was the truth of the way things were. 

‘E’ ran rampant in waves of usage until undercover stings cleared it out from a club or neighborhood, and it just moved to another set of young people. It was difficult to prove it was used because it burned off so quickly, making it even more horrible for the victims and harder for cops to catch people and prove a case. It was dangerous because the amateur’s using it weren’t medically aware of only a few too many drops causing death. The heart couldn’t take it sometimes.

Jared looked away, into the distance, as he thought over his scarce memories. He shook his head, then dropped his head back and looked straight up, “I don’t remember what I did. I was drinking coke and rum...walking around, socializing...I could see my friends. I thought I felt drunk...but everyone looked drunk. The music kept playing and... then I remember something like a couch, or something. Somebody was touching me in a back room maybe...like on my skin.” 

Jared touched his left hand to his chest and rubbed it through his clothing, like he was reliving that one small fraction of time. “I thought maybe I pushed a hand off my chest but there were more...and laughing...there was this laughing and I couldn’t move. Jared caught himself when he felt tears threatening, “I think I came.” He paused to pinch his eyes with his hand and took a second to regroup. Jensen felt his own hot tears threatening. 

“I think I came,” Jared continued with emotion he tried to control, “but I don’t even know why or who or...or who touched me and...I can’t remember who was there.” Jensen kissed his forehead and held Jared’s face to him for a few seconds. He was holding back his own tears at what Jared had gone through. “It isn’t your fault, love,” Jensen whispered softly, kissing Jared a few more times gently on the forehead. 

He stroked the younger man’s hair, while Jared tried to calm himself. It had been ten years, but this part of it was still so humiliating. “This isn’t your fault, love, please know it’s not your fault,” Jensen repeated until Jared seemed to calm a bit. His left hand had landed on top of Jared’s and squeezed it, his thumb gently rubbing back and forth. 

Jared took a deep breath and continued, “I woke up a mess. There was come on me...it was like in a few different places...maybe my own and,” he shook his head, “I can’t remember...I thought maybe there was two different people, but sometimes I had flashes of more than that. It was gross...it felt disgusting to wake up and look like some cheap ass used up toy...it was like laying in a gutter somewhere and coming down from using something.” 

Jensen sighed in anguished frustration. This wasn’t something he could erase for Jared. All he could do was protect him from now on. God, it pissed him off, knowing the damage this kind of thing did to people. Jared continued, “I searched around the house for my friends. Only one of them was on the sofa so I made him get up. Turns out he couldn’t remember shit either and he was kind of in the same boat.” 

Jared looked off in thought, “It was like my brain was in a fog after that. It felt sluggish and my head pounded for awhile. We pretty much figured out what had happened. We went back to our apartments and tried to pretend it didn’t happen but I just...” Jared shrugged, tearing up again, “I kept seeing bits and pieces of strange people...skin in front of me...feeling an orgasm that I couldn’t control or...or maybe two, but empty like without any meaning attached, just...” 

Jared shrugged his good shoulder. He took a few seconds to regroup his thoughts again and rubbed his eyes. “Anyway, I couldn’t shake the humiliation. Every time I tried to have dinner with friends, or just going into Starbucks, I found myself looking around, staring into dozens of faces and wondering...was it them? Was I the aggressor or did I do something to egg them on? Was I a complete sex maniac or a rapist, or something, when I drank alcohol...or was I a total weakling for letting someone do that to me that I didn’t even pay attention?” 

Jensen interjected softly, “Jared,” but the younger man was caught up in his self blame for the moment. He shook his head again, anguish plain in his eyes, as he relived his shame, “I couldn’t for the life of me make sense of it all. I knew I hadn’t been penetrated, thank god, but it terrified me to think maybe I could have some screw loose, or something. I went to a counselor. She reminded me to get tested. And so I did. Every six months for the next five years, I never missed a test.” 

Jared finally looked at Jensen, “I’m clean, Jensen. Squeaky...and I swear to you I haven’t done anything that stupid since,” “Hey,” Jensen stopped him, angrily at first, but softened his reaction, “You are not the bad guy here, alright? You did ‘nothing’ wrong. ‘Nothing’. You trusted the environment and they turned out to have a few assholes there. That’s not your fault, Jare.” 

The cop was thankful Jared had been smart to get help. He certainly didn’t deserve to feel like any of that was his fault. It was a crime for a reason, but Jensen knew it happened quite a bit without any report of it. This is one reason why. The psychological damage could be fucking awful. 

Jared looked better, like he was returning back to the present with Jensen and gradually coming back away from the feelings of helplessness and humiliation. Jensen asked, “How did you feel after you got to a counselor?” “Much better,” the younger answered, “She explained to me what happened, how the drug worked. She helped me to understand why I was having all those feelings.” 

“The ‘who they were’ stuff didn’t matter anymore. She redirected my focus on just ‘me’... on getting back my comfort zone and confidence. I only saw her eight times, but it was amazing just to feel better about it.” Jensen spoke softly, “Jare, there is ‘nothing’ you should ever feel guilty about, or like you made any mistakes. Assholes take advantage of others with those drugs and you had no idea it was coming. They lower your inhibitions to almost nothing. You’ve got no way to fight them and the assholes know it.” 

Jared nodded to himself and looked down. He still harbored some of the shame, but Jensen could see he had been taught how to manage it. He knew how to soften those feelings about himself when they tried to return. That didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt. “You saved me,” Jared looked at Jensen with a wondrous look in his eyes. “You saved me from having to go through that again. The worst part, ten years ago, was thinking that I might have been responding to it...in some way I was participating, or looking like I was fully willing.” 

Jared shook his head again, “It fools your body into responding even when you don’t want it to. I was so angry at myself when I started to feel loose and out of control at that restaurant. I thought maybe it was happening all over again until you saved me from it.” Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand, leaned forward and kissed his forehead. 

The cop rested his face against the younger man’s forehead and closed his eyes with a sigh. If he hadn’t been at that restaurant last week, Jared would have been forced to endure that shit again. What this man had been through wasn’t fair, dammit. Jensen’s instincts had served him well when he decided to show up and keep an eye on him with Morgan.

“Jared,” Jensen pulled back and held his lover’s cheek, “I want you to feel like you can let loose and drink any time you want. Trust and safety. That’s what I want for you.” When Jared started to show immediate argument, Jensen further explained, “You don’t deserve to feel responsible in ‘any’ way for what happened to you...both times...and you deserve to get the carefree Jared back that isn’t afraid to drink at a party when he wants.” 

Jared looked doubtful, but didn’t respond. He’d like to feel that way some day, but the anxiety of even having one drink around a stranger always overwhelmed him. Jensen further commented, “Those bastards caused you not to trust yourself. They preyed on you and I’d like to stick hot coals up their asses for that.” Jared swallowed. He felt hot and tingly at the intensity coming from Jensen’s eyes. 

He studied the older man for a few seconds, realizing something, “I had more drinks on our first date than I’ve ‘ever’ had with other people.” Jensen played gently with his hair again, focused on him, “So, it’s different with me?” Jared nodded, sluggishly with his head still relaxed back on Jensen’s arm. “Definitely,” he added.

Jared smiled, looking away a bit sheepishly when he realized how closely Jensen was watching him. “Everything is, actually,” Jared spoke without looking at him. Jensen watched him, until Jared looked back at him. “My whole outlook on things is different. I was being honest in the car yesterday. You make me feel like I can do anything.” 

Jensen stared into his eyes, pleased that he could give Jared that. “Well, I’m making it a point to work on that self trust of yours, so you can completely let loose and enjoy yourself again when you’re out. You’re too beautiful, inside and out, to have anything hurtful keep that from you. Kinda pisses me off when someone tries to hurt you, in case you hadn’t noticed.” 

Jared stared into Jensen’s eyes, absorbing the older man’s words, still overwhelmed about having someone look at him like that. He grinned and looked down, shyly. Jensen added while watching him, “You know...you won’t have to worry about anything if you keep me around...take me to your parties. No neanderthals will bonk you over the head and drag you to their cave when I’m on watch.” 

Jared burst out with a giggle, not expecting that remark. Jensen had lightened the mood. Jared was completely charmed by this handsome man who made him feel safe and loved. The older man pretty much lost himself watching the adorable dimples and sparkles in Jared’s eyes. Jared soon countered his comment, “Well, ‘you’ can drag me to ‘your’ cave any time, Ackles. And you won’t have to drug me, or feed me alcohol...or bonk me over the head first.” 

Jensen smirked with a raised eyebrow, “Is that so.” Jared shook his head slowly, “Mm-mm, no argument from me Starsky, not ever.” Jensen’s perturbed look at the ‘Starsky’ comment had Jared giggling again. Jensen loved this change in moods. He was mesmerized by Jared’s melodic laugh. This had been an incredible sharing of souls tonight, especially on Jared’s part.

“How about now,” Jensen started, “you wanna go to my cave...let me dote on you for awhile?” Jared sputtered, “You’ve been doting on me all day, aren’t you tired of it? Why don’t you let ‘me’ do the doting for awhile?” Jensen kissed him on the side of his jawbone, “Because, delectable genius, you’re injured and I think you need some more doting.” 

Jared answered dreamily, while Jensen kept kissing him softly back by his ear, “Oh...I...okay then.” The older man smiled affectionately for a second, kissing in a few more places. His accountant was definitely distracted. He could feel Jared’s exhale, as he moved his head slightly to give Jensen more access. Jensen finally kissed his way around to Jared’s lips, stopping to meet his eyes, “Those PJ’s are awfully cute on you, you know.” 

Jared was very distracted by Jensen’s eyes. “I...uhm,” he had totally lost his train of thought. Jensen glanced at Jared’s mouth and started to lean in. Jared’s anticipation skyrocketed, knowing damn well what the older man was about to do. Jensen’s talented hot tongue licked Jared’s lips, erotic slow swipes that demanded entrance. 

Jared moaned, as his eyes rolled up and his mouth opened of its own accord. He soon felt the hot slippery invasion artfully woo him into submission. Jared’s good hand gripped Jensen’s arm, his body gave itself over and his soul floated in a sea of heated pleasure while Jensen kissed him to within an inch of his life. 

The hot exchange was full of tenderness, devotion, and promise. Heat penetrated everywhere. Jared’s body lit up like fireworks. Within minutes, the kiss became more suggestive, Jensen’s tongue simulating an in and out motion, wiggling against Jared’s when he backed his mouth away and held it open. 

Their breathing was increased, escalating the need for more oxygen. Jensen released a deep hungry moan...one of definite need that Jared’s dick definitely responded to. “Come on...careful,” Jensen said, as he stood up with his hands out to help Jared. The accountant put his good hand into Jensen’s grip and stood with Jensen’s support under his armpit. 

The cop slid his arms around Jared’s waist and rubbed his hands all over his lower back. “Mmm,” Jensen kissed Jared’s neck, indulging in the soft skin there but avoiding Jared’s bruised area. Jared’s sighs of pleasure were Jensen’s undoing. The way he rolled his head back and opened his neck up almost had Jensen coming on the spot. He kissed him once more and pulled the younger man forward a bit, while stepping backward. 

Jared had to walk with short choppy steps, at first, but loosened up as he got to the hallway. Jensen kept his arm around him, as they made their way to the bedroom. Jensen eased Jared onto the bed, then turned to click on the master bedroom fireplace. He eased his lover to lay back on the bed, getting him comfortably situated against the plush pillows. 

When Jared started to remove the annoying sling over his right arm, the older man stopped him. Jensen shook his head, “Uh uh,” then kissed Jared to soften the correction. Jared’s perturbed annoyance was quickly soothed by Jensen’s kisses to his crinkled forehead and the rest of his face, “Leave it on, baby, you won’t need that arm.” Jared sighed in irritation at the restricted movement, but quickly gave in as Jensen’s kisses distracted him.

Jensen kissed his way down Jared’s neck, then raised up enough to gently slide the pajama pants down past Jared’s hips. He kissed the smooth skin of Jared’s abdomen, over the hip bones, feeling the smooth skin as he went. He felt the accountant’s delectable skin as he slid the pants all the way down his long legs and completely off. 

Jensen left Jared’s socks on for warmth, then slid his hands back up Jared’s legs until he reached his pajama top. He started to unbutton it and soon had it spread open so he could enjoy his partners beautiful physique. Jensen ran his hands all over the beautiful skin, which was slightly golden. Jared’s body was moving lithely with a subtle rocking of his hips. 

Jensen stood and undressed in front of Jared. The younger man wanted to sit up and be more involved, but he mindlessly started to used his bad elbow to push up, by mistake. He fell back and grabbed the arm with a painful cry and hiss. Jared’s eyes clenched shut for a few seconds until the pain subsided. He hadn’t realized what he was doing until now. 

Jared opened his eyes and saw Jensen over him. The older man’s heat was blanketing him, but his weight was being held up by his elbows. Jensen kissed the younger man and smoothed his hair back, “Now, why would you go and do that?” Jensen went back to kissing Jared’s neck and under his jaw, not really expecting an answer. “You don’t need to move...I got this,” Jensen whispered, while further indulging himself. 

Jared’s responses were egging him on. The accountant was releasing several sighs of pleasure and high pitched whispery moans. Jensen kissed his way down Jared’s incredibly built chest. He took his time swiping the smooth skin with his tongue and sucking on nipples, as he went. Jared continued to cry out and grabbed Jensen’s head when he hit an especially sensitive spot. The light teeth scraping against his nipples sent sparks of electric heat straight to Jared’s groin. ‘Fuck,’ Jensen was going to kill him. 

Jensen took his time. His dick was already leaking from the incredibly hot reactions he was getting from his lover, plus Jared’s pelvis was pushing up in a subtle rhythm now. If he crushed his own pelvis onto Jared’s and met that rhythm with his own, both men would be coming within minutes. Jensen wasn’t ready to end this yet. 

He kissed his way down to the younger man’s stomach, licking across it, then swirling his tongue in circles and long swipes until Jared’s plea’s for ‘Jensen’ were understood. His accountant was on fire. Jensen wasn’t just interested in getting him off, though. He wasn’t done devouring the cute accountant who had worn his underwear and pajamas and had stolen his heart somewhere in there. 

Jensen lifted Jared’s legs, one at a time, and kissed his way down the inside of his thighs. He passed the knee and spent a few seconds licking and sucking behind it when he received surprised gasps and moans. Apparently, that was a highly errogenous spot that even Jared had no idea existed. Jensen loved that he’d found it. 

His glance at Jared’s rapturous face, with closed eyes and head thrown back at the sensations, almost had Jensen coming on the spot. ‘Christ,’ his lover was too hot for words. Jared’s cock jerked and pulsated precome, while gyrating his hips and clenching the covers with his good hand. 

Jensen smoothed his warm hands up Jared’s legs, from the ankle to the knee, gently rubbing his hand around the bruised one, kissing it softly. He looked it over a few seconds, noting the bruising had darkened in some areas, but the swelling was almost gone. It was probably going to be painful for a few days so he gently lowered it to the bed. 

The other leg got the same attention and care, but not as much worry and concern over the knee. Jared’s knees looked similar to his elbows, with open scrapes that had scabbed over but were still very raw and red. Jensen continued his ministrations until his focus ended up with tongue swipes and sucking on the thin tender skin between Jared’s leg and groin. 

“Ah, god,” Jared’s high pitched sounds of ecstasy, combined with the knee jerk reaction of spreading his bent legs further and grabbing Jensen’s hair was too much. The older man needed to escalate this. He climbed back up and covered Jared’s body with his, Jared’s legs coming up instantly to either side of Jensen’s hips. 

“Mmmm,” Jensen growled with an appreciative sound, his mouth heading for the swollen lips in front of him with a vengeance. Jared’s passionate responses were sending him into overload. Their bodies melded together instantly, pushing groins together, as the taste and feel of tongues and lips intoxicated their whole being. They kissed, moaned in tandem, rocked hips passionately, Jensen pushing down and growling with pleasure. 

Cock was against cock, rubbing and grinding hips, eliciting loud cries of exquisite pleasure which escalated the overwhelming need to keep going. Things sped up, with no one thinking to stop it, until suddenly as orgasms began to build, Jared begged out his request, “Please.” Kissing, licking and sucking, trying to breathe in between tasting every piece of each other they could reach, Jensen hummed, “Hmm?” 

Jared continued to plea, rubbing his good hand everywhere on Jensen he could, crying out from the tongue in his ear and sucking on the older man’s neck. “Inside me,” Jared whispered, in between panting, “please...inside me, Jensen. God, please, I wanna feel you inside.” Jensen was beyond coherent thought, but somehow managed to kiss his way to Jared’s mouth so he could look down into his eyes directly. 

Passionate black irises had almost overtaken all the green, Jared noticed, with his own eyes showing a matched level of need. Jensen still wasn’t allowing his full weight to hit Jared, knowing damn well about the cuts and bruises on the younger man’s back. “Your back,” Jensen mumbled, staring into Jared’s eyes as he shared his concern. Jensen wasn’t about to say ‘no’, but he wasn’t planning to allow Jared to over tax his wounds, either. 

As Jared answered with a look of surprised disbelief, “My back’s fine,” Jensen reached over and grabbed the lube from the nightstand drawer. He didn’t take his eyes off Jared while he managed it. Jensen kissed his mouth, licking Jared’s lips and ending with a slow retreated pull of the lower lip between his teeth. “You want me to use a condom,” Jensen asked, willing to do absolutely anything Jared told him to, at this point. 

Jared eyed him for a second, his good hand sliding up to Jensen’s cheek and then lovingly over his head and back down to hold onto his neck. He shook his head, knowing they’d had the conversation earlier about Jared’s tests and Jensen had previously told him of his history and clearances too. Still, the level of comfort between them was of the utmost importance to Jensen...Jared could plainly see that and it meant everything. 

“It’s okay,” Jared raised his head and kissed him this time, “S’okay, Jensen. I’m too in love with you to ever go anywhere else.” Jared rested his head back on the pillow and watched the changes come over Jensen’s face, as he realized what Jared just said. Jared had just floored him with something he was thinking about, but hadn’t managed to say first. ‘Holy fuck,’ Jensen’s eyebrow popped up, as he stared for a second at the sexy adonis below him that had just derailed his control, once fucking again. 

Jared hadn’t meant to just blurt that out, but it had felt so natural. His body was on overload, but so was his soul. He was so in love with this man, the feelings were pouring out of him. Jensen spared no wasted time. He kissed the man below him like his life depended on it, something in his very core needing to convey the proper response to a confession like that. Jared loved him. He was in love with him. This was now his life. 

When Jensen pulled back, both men were breathing hard, still feeling the heat and hardness of each other’s bodies, pushing against one another with eager anticipation. Jensen kissed him once more, then finally confessed, “I’m in love with you too, Jare. I’m so in love with you I can’t even think straight...and I just wasn’t sure if you felt the same, so I didn’t say it.” 

Jensen popped the cap on the lube and tried desperately to get the stuff on his fingers fast. Jared’s increased rhythm of his hips pushing up was driving him fucking crazy. The younger man’s legs were around Jensen’s hips, opening up his target and Jared was lustily licking Jensen’s lips, performing swirling suggestive motions with his tongue. They kissed hungrily, in between deep moans of pleasure as bodies touched and Jensen’s fingers began their magic. 

“Aaah,” Jared’s cries of ecstasy were making Jensen’s dick twitch and leak, begging to get inside. “Baby, you’re too fucking hot,” Jensen kissed the younger man’s neck, now sliding two lubed fingers into his lover’s tight channel, trying his hardest to go slow in opening Jared up. “You’re gonna make me come, you’ve gotta stop, FUCK,” Jensen’s complaint was cut off when Jared’s body pushed back, effectively starting to fuck himself on Jensen’s fingers. 

“Jesusfuckingchrist,” Jensen pumped his stiff fingers, in return, unable to stop himself from pulling up enough to watch the display of sexy intensity coming over Jared. He grabbed his own dick hard, clenching it at the base to cut off the supply of liquid and minimize blood flow at the moment. Goddamn, if he wasn’t about to come. Jensen didn’t stop his other hand, though. Fucking his lover like this, watching him, was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever seen. 

Jared moved lithely, starting to sweat, obviously warmed up now and desperate to feel more and more, as he climbed his way toward orgasm. He rocked his own hips backward, while pumping his rock hard dick mindlessly into air. Jared begged with a high pitched whispered, “Jensen,” caught up in the absolute ecstasy. “Jensen, fuck me,” Jared cried out. 

The older man added that third finger Jared needed. He wasn’t about to push his engorged cock in there without doing this first. He was glad. Jared took his three fingers eagerly, but it was an effort to bare down and let his body feel through the adjustment. Jensen went slow at first, barely starting to glide in and out when Jared seemed ready. 

Jared’s body had left his brain behind long ago. He was opened up, willing and begging, holding his legs up to keep his hole opened up wide for Jensen’s access. Jensen was sexy as fuck holding his dick in one hand and sitting up enough for Jared to see the lower part of his arm and wrist as they pumped fingers in and out of him. Jesus, this was fucking hot. Jared wouldn’t ever be able to concentrate on anything at work, he was sure of it. This would be on his mind every second. 

Jensen brushed over Jared’s prostate, eliciting delightful cries of intensity, with pulses and jerks of his untouched dick to match. Jensen knew Jared could come if he rubbed that gland and didn’t stop, but he touched it with loving swipes for now, giving it stimulation it craved, but not so much to make Jared come just yet. 

Jensen finally pulled his fingers out and applied a heap of lube on himself. He centered himself over Jared’s opening and hooked his arms underneath the younger man’s knees, helping him hold his long beautiful legs up. Jensen bent over and kissed Jared, then held his eyes as he pushed the rock hard mushroom top of his cock into the tightest cushion of hot pressure he’d ever felt in his life. 

Jensen’s eyes rolled up with a soft groan of unimaginable pleasure, every time he pushed himself in further. ‘Jesus,’ Jensen’s thoughts screamed for him to slam in harder, but he would never be able to recover if he hurt Jared. Jared’s opened mouthed exhales, in between growls and high pitched cries, were letting Jensen know this was perfect. The younger man’s adjustment took a few moments, even after the prep, but once Jensen was buried almost to the hilt, resting still to wait, Jared’s body finally gave. 

When Jared’s legs came up further and he pushed his hips up, simultaneously devouring Jensen with a hot wet kiss, Jensen started to move. Grunting, groaning, moaning with blissful sounds of pleasure, both men increased their intensity. Jensen had a thought to get Jared rolled over so he could ride on top and take the weight off Jared’s back. That idea was quickly dispelled when he remembered Jared’s knee wouldn’t be able to do that.

‘Fuck,’ Jensen’s full mushroom head rubbed over Jared’s prostate, causing instant sparks of pleasure to shoot through Jared’s body. “Aaah,” Jared tightened up, causing an unbelievable vice of intense ecstasy to surround Jensen’s dick. “Ohjesuschrist,” Jensen’s vocabulary was limited, his rhythm speeding up in reaction to the overwhelming need to come. 

Jared tightened his hold around Jensen’s shoulders, hanging on for dear life with his one good arm, his legs crossing and tightening around Jensen’s lower back. Jensen kept hitting his prostate and he was crying out louder, pushing up into every thrust, loving this. There was no separation, only oneness. The pleasure was like a cyclical pulse, shooting between them and demanding permanent connectivity. 

“OhfuckJared,” Jensen’s moans continued to escalate with Jared’s. “Ohmygod you feel so fucking good,” Jensen couldn’t stop. “Mmmjesuschrist,” Jensen pumped faster, breathing uncontrollably fast. “Jared,” he whispered, in between exhales, knowing damn well he would come, even if he stopped right now and held still. “Jared,” Jensen’s desperate last second warning was a preclude to the older man fucking his lover harder. 

Jared cried out in ecstasy, a scream of “yes” and “ohgodyes” letting loose, as Jensen pumped into him hard and fast, hitting his prostate on every stroke. They cried out together, riding the tension of undeniable need and hit the top of the precipice within seconds. “Ohgodyes,” Jared screamed. Jensen curled tighter over Jared, pushing impossibly hard, as the younger man tightened up and came. 

Jensen came with him, sparks of undeniable pleasure exploding within. Both men clenched hard and spasmed with deep guttural cries of ecstasy. Powerful climaxes rolled through their bodies in waves. Jensen’s hot seed pulsed inside him, added an unbelievable sensation for Jared. 

They rode their orgasms together, clinging to each other through the intensity until finally their aftershocks started started to subside. Jensen pushed his face into Jared’s neck, panting with exertion and emotional staggering breaths at the intensity of his experience. He gradually worked his arms from under Jared’s knees and slid them up to rest his weight on his elbows. He didn’t have much clarity, but his awareness of Jared’s injured back was ever a forefront. 

Jared’s one good arm remained tightly around Jensen’s neck, the younger man still struggled for oxygen with his eyes closed. This closeness was something he wasn’t ready to let go. The feeling of Jensen’s heat laying on top of him, inside of him, and the hot breaths on his skin were exactly where Jared wanted to stay.

Jensen finally returned to awareness enough to feel the draft on the back of his ass. He realized he’d been laying here several minutes, unable to move. He kissed the salty smooth skin of Jared’s neck, feeling the younger man turn his head in response. Jensen smoothed Jared’s hair back, feeling the light sheen there. He kissed his way to Jared’s lips, then touched his lips lightly to him and raised up to look down at him. 

“Hey,” Jensen kissed him again, assessing the peaceful post-orgasmic look on his lover’s face. Jared blinked heavily, with a dreamy half smile on his face. He moaned and cleared his throat. Jensen was still inside of him. When the older man’s dick twitched, it caused a hitch in Jared’s breath and look of wondrous surprise. 

Both men grinned affectionately at each other. Jensen kissed his lover again. “Are you alright,” he asked while looking at him with concern. “Yeah,” Jared smiled sweetly, “better than just alright.” He raised his head up and kissed Jensen, then relaxed back on the pillow. Jared traced a finger over Jensen’s forehead and down his cheek. He couldn’t stop staring at the older man’s face. 

“Is your back hurting?” Jared was sidetracked out of his doting over Jensen’s handsome features with Jensen’s question. He shook his head sluggishly, still looking at Jensen with wondrous adoration in his eyes. “No,” Jared said softly. In all honesty, he couldn’t really feel much of anything except Jensen’s heat and the aftermath of floating on his post-orgasmic cloud. 

Jared was sated and dreamily satisfied for the moment. He felt giddy and elated...and loved. Jensen’s eyes crinkled when he grinned at the cute man below him. Jared wasn’t in pain and that made him happy. Jared was also still recovering from what they’d just done, and it was cute as hell. Jensen braced himself and gently pulled out of the younger man’s body, eliciting and moan from both of them. 

The chill of the room wasn’t playing any favorites. The fireplace warmed things, but Jensen still wasted no time getting the thick bedding out from underneath his lover and covering his legs with them. He trekked to the bathroom quickly and returned with a hot wet towel. Jensen cleaned off Jared’s stomach, finding spurts of come up on his collar bone. 

The accountant’s eyes dilated when Jensen discovered it. It was a reminder of how hard that orgasm had been and how it felt to have Jensen pounding into his prostate until he exploded without a touch to his cock. Jensen raised an eyebrow, feeling his own eyes respond to Jared’s. Goddamn, he wanted to do more with this man, again and again. He would never get enough. 

Jared’s good arm raised above his head, elbow bent and laid there on the pillow. Jared laid calmly, patient and openly unafraid to leave his naked body uncovered. He had never been this comfortable naked before. Around Jensen, his whole comfort zone had changed. 

The glow of the fireplace danced shadows over their skin. Jared’s eyes travelled up Jensen’s muscular thighs, past his retreating backside and then landed on Jensen’s chest when the older man turned back after throwing the wet towel in the hamper. He stared at the golden skin, admiring the cut pecs and muscular thickness of Jensen’s damn near perfect body, as the older man climbed under the covers and turned to prop his head up with bent elbow. He had been watching Jared this whole time, grinning a bit knowingly at being so closely scrutinized. 

Jared’s eyes finally met Jensen’s. His innocent adorable shyness at being caught staring was pretty much Jensen’s undoing. He couldn’t help the chuckle when Jared’s blush took over and he looked away, biting his lip. “God, that’s so fucking hot,” Jensen mumbled. He kissed the accountant on the side of his jaw, nuzzling him there, while Jared sighed, and closed his eyes from Jensen’s touch.

Jensen played with his hair for a moment, then turned to set the alarm before he settled back to face Jared again. Jared turned toward him, frustrated that he could only get his right hand close enough to touch Jensen’s skin. It was his injured elbow and he couldn’t fully put his arm around Jensen like he wanted. 

Jensen stirred his fingers in the younger man’s hair, staring at him for a few minutes. “Hey,” Jensen caught his attention, “do you need a pain pill tonight? How does everything feel?” Jared grinned softly, “It’s okay. I don’t need anything. Just you.” Jensen nuzzled the gorgeous jawline in response, “Mmm...that’s a given, baby, m’not movin’.” 

Jared fell asleep fast, still facing Jensen on his left side. Jensen admired the sight for a few minutes before finally succumbing to his own slumber. Both men were naked. Jensen loved the feel of the skin on skin, but he had a last second thought about how this might not be such a good idea to sleep like this. 

Within two seconds, or it seemed, the sound of the blaring alarm penetrated Jensen’s brain. ‘Fucking piece of shit must be broken,’ his thoughts grumbled, as he forced himself to reach back without moving too much. He slapped the device until blessed silence returned, then dropped his arm back over the layers of bedding that covered his most perfect bedmate. 

Jensen yawned and groaned, as his mind tried to process how it could possibly be six a.m. already when they’d just went to sleep. He shouldn’t feel like this. They fell asleep about ten, so given the almost eight hour stretch, why the hell he was having trouble moving wasn’t making any sense. 

‘Until now,’ Jensen lifted his head slightly to peruse the hot as fuck angelic creature that seemed to be struggling with his own wakefulness. The sleepy accountant yawned and rubbed his eyes with his right hand. The hair over his eyes was in the way, so he had to brush it aside irritably. His face was turned away, at first, but now the younger man gravitated his face back toward Jensen and rested there with his eyes closed. 

Jensen smiled. It was obvious Jared didn’t like mornings, either. He gently kissed the bare shoulder in front of him, knowing damn well that every morning was going to be a challenge to get up when he had Jared in his arms. Somewhere in the night, Jensen had curled himself around Jared’s torso, with his cheek laying on the man’s left shoulder. 

Jared had apparently turned onto his back, but stayed within Jensen’s arms. It was cozy. Jared yawned again and finally opened his eyes. When he noticed Jensen was already awake and watching him, Jared smirked a little put out, “What.” Jensen matched the accountant’s smirk, then kissed him on the shoulder again, “Nothing. Just cute, that’s all.” 

Jared smiled with his shy dimple but he didn’t turn away. He looked down for a few seconds, which caused Jensen to snicker softly. “I’m just sayin’...this is how I’d like to wake up a ‘lot’,” Jensen said. Jared looked up at him again and smiled, “Me too. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be on time to work, though.” Jensen rubbed his hand through Jared’s hair. “True,” he agreed. After laying peacefully a few more minutes, Jensen finally asked, “You want the shower first?” 

Jared forced his dragging body out of bed and took Jensen’s hand to help him up. Once standing, Jared yawned again and started to shuffle toward the bathroom. Jensen watched him go, but followed a few steps just to get a look at Jared’s back. When Jared turned on the light in the bathroom, he walked up to the counter and saw Jensen looking closely at his back. 

Jensen glanced up, “I’m just seeing for myself.” Jared went back to his business, of brushing his teeth and preparing to shave. Jensen lightly touched some of the bruising and raw scrapes with his fingertips, then bent and looked very closely at the two cuts that had some sticky glue in them. 

“How do they feel,” he asked, looking at Jared through the mirror. Jared rubbed shaving gel over his stubble and answered casually, “They don’t hurt. Every once in awhile if I move a certain way it pulls the glue, but they’re fine.” Jensen rubbed his hands up and down Jared’s arms and kissed him on the shoulder. 

“I’m gonna go make some holy bean. Don’t put those right under the hot water, babe, or it’ll hurt. They still look a little red.” The worry in Jensen’s eyes touched Jared’s heart. Having someone care for him, look at him that way, it was...well, it was damn addicting and Jared could get used to it real quick. “Okay,” Jared nodded, not able to turn and kiss the loving man in gratitude like he wanted because he now had a blanket of gel on his face. 

Jensen pulled extra towels from the cabinet and stacked them in the bathroom, then left to go get the coffee brewed. He knew, as did Jared, that partaking in a morning double shower would ‘not’ get them to work. It had been hard enough stealing glances at each other’s endowments as they moved around. Everything seemed to be at parade rest, but with every glance, each man felt the possibilities stirring. 

After showers and clean clothes, the lovers sipped blazing hot espresso shots and headed out the door. Jensen promised his lover ‘thee’ best breakfast burrito ever on the way to work if Jared was going to drop him at the station, anyway. Jensen was right. Jared sat in the car next to the older man and moaned heavenly sounds that went straight to Jensen’s dick. 

It wasn’t easy making it through breakfast, especially since he glanced over one time to see Jared’s enticing tongue trying to catch a string of melted cheese. ‘Jesus,’ Jensen knew he was in trouble. If he didn’t keep his mind off his delectable accountant, he wasn’t going to get any work done. 

Jared wrapped up his remaining half burrito and stuffed it into his bag. “Thing weighs five pounds,” he exclaimed, meaning to eat the rest at lunch. “Christ that was good,” Jared sighed heavily, feeling completely satisfied with espresso and a solid breakfast, after an incredible night with his better half. None of his injuries even hurt, except for the elbow when he moved it the wrong way. 

He felt Jensen touch his arm and looked over. “Do something for me,” Jensen said. When Jared looked at him with confused innocence, Jensen touched his hand on the younger man’s cheek, “Stay safe...please...don’t get on any planes out of the country...and call me asap if anything doesn’t feel right.” As he smoothed Jared’s hair back, the detective’s eyes spoke volumes about the level of concern he had for this beautiful man. 

Jared nodded in agreement, but was suddenly overcome with his own panic that Jensen could get hurt because he was distracted with worry about him, “Jensen, you can’t think about me. Please don’t worry about me, it’s too dangerous, you need to,” Jensen kissed the younger man, gentle and sweet. When he pulled back, his thumb rubbed back and forth on Jared’s cheek as they stared into each other’s eyes. 

“I can still do my job, and I can worry about you at the same time,” Jensen told him, ‘That’ is something I can’t stop doing, alright? But believe me, I’m not about to let anything keep me from comin’ home to you, that’s for damn sure.” He kissed Jared once again, pausing to search his gaze a few more seconds before he finally backed away and got out of the car. 

When Jensen opened the door and stepped out, he turned and leaned down to look at his lover again, “You okay?” Jared nodded, because he truly was. Jensen was the best thing that ever happened to him. He smiled at the older man, who smiled in return before he shut the door. 

Jared pulled out of the security gate, glancing in his rear view mirror while waiting for it to open. He could see Jensen wave to another officer, then he pulled out some kind of card and held it toward a blank door. Another man trotted up behind Jensen and put an arm around his shoulder. Jensen quickly brushed the man off and slapped him on the side of his head. It was a play slap. Jared then realized it was Morgan, Jensen’s best friend.

The accountant pulled into traffic and made a beeline for his office. He was still pushing seven thirty, so that would give him time to put the back up suit on he kept ready behind his desk. All of his other dress clothes were at home. Jensen had loaned him another pair of sweats, at least, in order to get to work today. 

When he got to the office, there wasn’t much going on. It was early for everyone. Jared was used to being the first to arrive, along with HR. They were always there at the crack of dawn. He settled his things at his desk and went to the men’s room to put on his suit. This would be the big day he let his bosses know about the new job. Jared would give them his two weeks as soon as he saw them. 

Jared grabbed some files from Reiner’s former desk, first, then set up his computer and went to work on emails first, requests from his bosses, then attacked all the backed up paperwork from his sick day last Friday. He was ensconced in this week’s deposits when Robert Barron appeared around ten thirty. 

Jensen had pulled his id card out to key himself into the side door. He hadn’t noticed Morgan rushing up from the side. The older man squeezed him around the shoulders and greeted him cheerily with a whisper right in his ear, “Which one of you is changing their last name?” Jensen pushed the man away, grinning to himself after smacking Jeff on the side of the head. He keyed his way in, shaking his head. 

Jensen’s morning turned busier than shit. His team had busted some crack dealers over the weekend. There were search warrants to finalize on several of the homes and offices, plus some associates that were found on the men’s cell phones. Hours went by before he realized his ass hurt. He’d been writing and re-writing, editing and talking to judges. It was now early afternoon. JD grabbed him for lunch. The two sergeants walked down to the waterfront for some rice bowls and joined two other supervisors for a conjoined task force planning meeting. 

Jensen kept glancing at his phone. JD noticed. He leaned over once and whispered, “Reiner’s in custody,” to which Jensen nodded. He knew that. Jared was simply damned important to him...and he knew the accountant wouldn’t call him just for anything. Jared was telling his rat bastard bosses today that he was quitting. Knowing that wasn’t helping Jensen’s concern. 

“Mr. Barron?” Jared’s soft interruption was almost a plea for the millionaire to be too ensconced in something to look up. Jared hadn’t planned on talking to ‘this’ one. He really hoped for the other one to show up first. He cleared his throat and nervously smoothed his hair back when Barron looked up. “May I speak with you for a minute?” 

Jared’s insides always did somersaults in Barron’s presence. He hated it, but something about the piercing eyes and lack of approachable likeness always made Jared feel like he was being dissected. Murray did it too, but at least he had some personable skills mixed in there somewhere. This one...not so much. 

Jared waited for Barron to lean back in his office chair and motion him in with a forefinger. Jared supposed most people would think that was a rude gesture, or uppity...to Barron it was probably considered open communication. Jared stepped in, thinking he’d really like to just get this over with. 

Barron motioned him to sit, but Jared just stood with his hands crossed in front of him respectfully. He cleared his throat again, “Uhm, I’m giving my two weeks notice, and I just wanted you to know that.” Silence followed Jared’s announcement. He nervously rocked between his heels and the balls of his feet, then continued, “I know Mr. Murray must have discussed it with you...my looking for other jobs because of the excessive travel and my father being ill. I’ve found a firm that would hire me, so I accepted, but I told them I really wanted to wait two weeks so I could train and assist the new accountant for you.” 

Barron leaned forward in his chair. He rested his elbows on the desk and crossed his fingers, studying Jared for a few seconds. Finally he sighed, not looking quite as mean as Jared expected. The man actually looked kind of tired. “It’s alright, Jared,” Barron said, “thank you for telling me.” He watched Jared as the younger man struggled not to show his obvious shock at being treated so kind. 

Barron actually smirked when he noticed the kid’s reaction. He sighed again, turning more serious, “Chase spoke to me about your incident with Reiner and his buddies. I’m the one who fired him.” Jared stood there speechless for a few seconds, then remembered to close his guppy mouth before he embarrassed himself. He really hadn’t expected this. “Oh,” was all he could say. 

Barron adjusted his glasses, “I don’t blame you for leaving, especially after that experience.” Jared rushed to correct his assumption, “Oh no...no that’s not why. I mean...I was searching before that happened. If you had kept him on, maybe...you know, there’s no way I could work here and,” Jared looked down and regrouped. He took a deep breath, then looked back up, “What I mean is...I was looking before, after that Singapore trip because I realized it was just too far and too long...my dad’s kind of facing more health problems and I’m the only kid nearby.” 

Jared shrugged, “I hadn’t realized there was going to be that kind of travel demand when you hired me. I’m sorry, Mr. Barron. I’m sorry for the effort it took you to move me here. I really will pay you back for the moving truck and advance you gave me. I’ve learned so much here and you trusted me with quite a bit.” Barron thought for a few moments, then blurted something out Jared wasn’t expecting, “Not with everything.” 

Jared hesitated, not quite sure where this was going. He waited and after more silence, Jared nodded, thinking he understood Barron was just letting him know that he hadn’t been handling quite ‘everything’ they were into. Jared had a mental thought that he most likely knew what those other things were. Barron didn’t elaborate. He left it at that. When he stood and held out his hand, Jared stepped forward and took it. 

After shaking, Barron announced the new accountant would be there Wednesday. Jared could show him the ropes on everything he’d been working on. They expected some business in Ottawa and another Tallahassee meeting, but nothing else before Jared left. The accountant nodded in agreement, “No problem...of course.” Barron added, “The new guy isn’t really new...he’s coming from another establishment of mine in Jersey. You’ll have an easy traineee, but he’s already well versed in the sections you haven’t been assigned yet.” 

Jared nodded, then turned to leave. He felt effectively dismissed when Barron sat back down and went back to his paperwork. Jared had worked his ass off for these men, and he’d covered Reiner’s work too. Barron obviously wasn’t a man to recognize any positive reinforcement. Jared left the office feeling odd, like the employees were like chess pieces to them, easily hired and fired, or replaced without any attachment. 

Maybe the man was just pissed and not saying it, or maybe he really didn’t give a shit. Jared had no idea, but it was cold...it was a cold place, a cold environment, and he was glad he was leaving. He went around to the HR team, then to talk to the attorneys. Everyone was sad that Jared was leaving and begged him for lunches and coffee meetings before he was gone. This was nice. At least his fellow employees would miss him. 

The accountant went back to work, trying to calm his insides now that the notice had been given. He checked his watch and decided it was time to nuke that burrito half for an early lunch. Instead of eating at his desk, Jared went out to the patio and walked around a bit before he ate. Things had tightened up with all the desk work and he really needed to work out some of the kinks. 

Jared was sore up inside from the night before. He grinned to himself and closed his eyes for a few seconds, looking up a the sun. Damn, that had been amazing. Jensen was amazing. Jensen was his. Thinking about his lover and walking around a bit had given him a second wind. He felt much better. He finally went over and sat down to enjoy the rest of the best burrito he’d ever had. 

The rest of the day was uneventful. Jared finished most of the catch up work, but just before he left at six, he noticed a thick file that had been dropped into his in box. ‘Shit,’ Jared thought as he picked the file up and opened it. Jared stared at the hundreds of figures in columns of an account he’d never seen before. “What the hell is this,” he mumbled, noticing the dates were recent. 

This might have been what his boss had been working on earlier, and now he wanted Jared to perform the deposits and transfers that he’d noted. Jared’s eyes scanned over entry after entry, some notations on the side margins and more of the same on every page. This was a lot of work, it would take hours. He had to forcefully pull himself away from it, fighting his overwhelming need to work until midnite and finish it all right now. Jared craved new challenges like this. The job was huge and filled with intricate numbers, which was right up his alley. 

Painfully, Jared sighed and dropped the file back on his desk, but he adjusted it neatly in front of his pc screen so it would be the first project he tackled in the morning. He would have all day to get it done before the new guy arrived the following day. ‘Sweet,’ he thought to himself, then shut off the lights on his side of the building and went outside. 

After lunch, Jensen had sent Jared a text to check on him. It was only a question mark and an ‘ok’, but the younger man answered him quickly with a thumbs up. It was remarkable how one little symbol could make Jensen’s whole day. Just knowing Jared was safe was like a huge weight of oppressive doom had been lifted. He could actually joke and relax after that. 

Now that Jared was sitting in his car, ready to head out, he texted Jensen again to let him know he was headed home. He also added he could pick up dinner and have it ready. Jared had a second’s thought that maybe he shouldn’t just assume yet that Jensen would want to come over. After all, Jared had just left his house and Jensen had been taking care of him. Maybe he wanted a break. 

Jared looked down at the vibration in his hand and immediately forgot what he’d been thinking. The text read ‘thankgod, missed the hell out of you all damn day. Anything sounds good, please.’ Jared tried not to grin like a twelve year old, but failed. This new boyfriend love thing was going to be fun. He started the car and pulled out, heading for the nearest gourmet burger place. 

Jensen left the station after Jared’s text. He grinned at his own boyishness knowing there was a hot numbers genius with an incredible body waiting for him at home with dinner. Jesus, Jensen could really get used to this. He couldn’t remember the last time he left the office by six, either. ‘Motivation,’ he thought to himself. 

Unfortunately, Morgan and Jensen took the same route for the first few miles toward home. Half way there, Jensen slammed on his brakes when he saw a car approaching a red light at break neck speed. “Nononononono,” he blurted out, realizing in a split second the minivan in front of him hadn’t seen the car coming. 

JD was behind Jensen and saw it too. “Shit,” the speeding sedan plowed into the innocent family, spinning them around in the intersection until both cars rolled over. The two cops grabbed the portable radios in their seats and called in the accident at the same time. Dispatchers were repeating the call, as both officers grabbed everything first aid related from their trunks and ran toward the wreck. 

The detectives were on automatic. ‘Contain the scene, look for injuries, stop anyone from leaving,’ relayed in their heads, as their bodies went meticulously through the motions. The car that had run the light was a compact sedan. It had hit the passenger side of the minivan so hard that it was half way wedged into the vehicle. The smaller car’s rear end was sticking out of the side of the van. 

Both cops knew this wasn’t gonna be good. They got to the van first, hearing the driver of the wedged compact moaning and crying out. They knew he was breathing, at least. The occupants of the van weren’t making a sound. Flames started but Morgan stomped them out quickly with one of the emergency blankets. Jensen dropped to his knees and palms, looking into the front seat of the van. 

The driver had been a woman, younger like in her late twenties. She was covered in glass and blood. Her seatbelt had been on, but there were pieces of windshield and metal all over and the steering wheel had pushed into her chest. The airbag was deflating. It didn’t quite look like it had blown up enough. He wondered if it had malfunctioned.

He reached in and felt for a pulse. “Anything,” JD asked from Jensen’s right. Jensen shook his head in silence. He moved his fingers to the other side of her neck, trying to make sure he couldn’t feel anything. Sometimes adrenaline in these situations can fool you. Jensen couldn’t believe she was dead that fast. He looked at her closely. The van was upside down but everything was so twisted she wasn’t upside down. He could plainly see the side of her skull was bashed in.

Jensen glanced around. “There’s no one else up here.” The two officers moved to the back, pulling at the slider window with a vengeance. They stopped to put gloves on, but already had a few cuts by now. They heard some fire engines pulling into the intersection, but kept pulling at the loose glass. Once there was a hole, Jensen jerked the door handle from the inside until it finally gave. 

The two detectives were able to wrench the door open a few feet. It was enough. Underneath the front of the compact was a young girl. ‘Jesusfuckno,’ Jensen’s mind ranted, as he crawled in close enough to check the young girl laying face down in the floorboard. Her seatbelt had been on, it looked like, but the car coming from the side had pushed her seat so hard it wrenched the seatbelt mechanism out of the floor. She still had it on, laying face down. 

Jensen closed his eyes and concentrated. There was something. He looked at JD and nodded. Morgan turned and yelled at the paramedics, “Over here! Little girl with a pulse. You’re gonna need to cut the compact out.” He turned back to Jensen, as the other first responders grabbed additional equipment. Jensen climbed into the tight space and made contact with the driver stuck in the compact. 

The man was moaning in pain, sobbing ‘what happened, what happened’ over and over again. Jensen looked him over and spoke to him, “Fire is gonna get you out of here. They’ll fix you up and you’re gonna be fine.” Jensen didn’t have much more he could offer. The man had some wounds, but they weren’t life threatening that he could tell. 

This blubbering idiot had just murdered a mom. He had destroyed this family with a split bad decision to hurry through a red light and Jensen had no sympathy for him. JD got his attention, “Ackles!” Jensen looked at his friend, who stepped in and motioned toward the rear third bench. It was sideways, also wrenched crooked by the impact. 

What Jeff had spotted were shoes...very little ones. They were too little to be the girl’s and they were laying a few feet apart on the floor. Jensen carefully crawled over the back of the bench and looked down. Just as he did, the flames started to come back again. “Christ,” Morgan bitched, then hurried around to the back of the van and started to pull as hard as he could on the broken glass. He cleared the window, just as the fireman began spraying underneath the van with a hose. 

Jensen was reaching down and working on something. JD couldn’t see yet. He finally got the door open and saw Jensen’s focus. “Holy crap,” Morgan exclaimed. Jensen was holding a piece of gauze against the head wound of a little boy in a car seat. He was keeping his other hand still so the infant could hold onto his thumb. Jensen glanced up at JD and both men exchanged a smile of wonder and happiness that this little guy seemed to be in one piece. 

The baby was about nine or ten months. His car seat had been violently jarred from the bench, but he was still in it. He was upright and sitting quiet, stunned by the whole event. Jensen thought he probably had a little concussion from the bump on his head, but his eyes focused on the cop clearly when he saw him. Tears started to pool out of fear from someone he didn’t recognize, but Jensen gave him his hand to hold onto and tried to stop the bleeding from the head wound. 

When the innocent huge blue eyes focused on him, Jensen knew he was toast. He had to stay with this little guy even if the van caught on fire. “It’s okay, little man. You did a good job staying in that car seat, buddy.” The infant seemed to be okay with Jensen’s presence so JD worked on getting the straps underneath undone that were caught on pieces of metal. Once it was freed, Morgan helped Jensen out and together they lifted the infant in his seat and brought him to a second set of paramedics that had just pulled up. 

Highway Patrol wound up taking over the scene. Jensen and JD watched the children being hoisted into the ambulance with several emergency personnel. They knew the other parent would be called right away, and if there wasn’t one, the closest relatives would be asked to take the children. Still, the poor things had just lost their mother, and for nothing. 

This wasn’t the greatest way to end the day. Both officers took a moment to lean against their vehicles and contemplate. They shared a bottle of rubbing alcohol to wash off their hands and arms. Some of the glass cuts burned like hell, but it was vital to get the blood off and any germs they may have picked up. After they dried their hands with a towel, Jensen asked his friend if he was okay. 

JD nodded and leaned against the truck next to Jensen, “Yeah. You know, it takes a bit to process but it’s gonna be okay.” He elbowed Jensen, “That little guy was cute, wasn’t he?” Jensen turned to his friend and smiled, “Yeah, he was.” He chuckled softly to himself and looked down, thinking about the innocence in those eyes and how another person’s actions could just poison that innocence and damage it.

‘Well, fuck,’ Jensen checked his clock in the truck and it was almost seven. He’d been terribly distracted and he hoped Jared hadn’t been calling him. ‘So, this is what it’s like to be in a relationship,’ Jensen recited in his head. He had someone to worry about him, someone who cared if he was late. It felt amazing, but he really didn’t want to bring this kind of a mood home to his adorable accountant. He would try and shake it before he got there.


	16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit longer of a chapter. There are intense emotional moments, lovely interactions between the boys and some increased worries coming about. Lots of cop moments, some humor and realism between the two sergeants, some hurt/comfort between the lovers and more dangerous undertones from Jared’s bosses. I hope you enjoy the ride!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN 

“Why is your door unlocked,” Jensen’s angry question was the first thing out of his mouth as he stepped into Jared’s condo. The younger man’s response was cut short by his realization that Jensen’s bitch wasn’t a light hearted one. He’d never been on the receiving end of a criticism from Jensen before and he wasn’t sure how to process it. 

“Uhm...I knew you were coming,” Jared’s eyes darted a bit nervously, unsure of what to say. He’d been excited. Hearing Jensen coming up the steps had drawn Jared happily off the couch and toward the entry foyer to greet him with a kiss. Jensen’s bitchy greeting had stopped the accountant in his tracks. 

Jensen sighed and closed his eyes. He had turned from shutting the door and blurted out the worst greeting in history for such a beautiful part of his life. What the hell was he thinking? He saw the sparkling look of happy anticipation leave Jared’s eyes in an instant, as his face fell into hurtful confusion. He’d hurt him, and he would never forgive himself. 

The detective opened his eyes and stepped toward Jared, “I’m sorry.” Jensen took his face between his hands and smoothed the young man’s hair back, “You didn’t deserve that, baby, and I’m so sorry.” Jared read the abundance of sadness and guilt in Jensen’s eyes and he knew the older man felt terrible. His focus immediately redirected itself to the reason for Jensen’s mood, “Are you alright?”

“I overreacted,” Jensen stared into his eyes. He rubbed his thumbs back and forth on the beautiful accountant’s neck, reassuring himself that everything was fine, while Jared searched Jensen’s eyes and struggled for any hint at where that reaction came from. Jensen pulled his lover’s head down a couple inches and kissed him on the forehead. He held his lips against his lover’s skin, closed his eyes and sighed, knowing he needed to explain himself. 

Jensen pulled back and gently smoothed the hair back from Jared’s face again, “You are so damn important to me. Someone died in front of me a little while ago and the split second thought of you being in danger or...being hurt...” Jensen paused and shook his head, not even able to fully go that route. “What I mean is...I was a dumb ass idiot who panicked.” 

Jensen started to further explain, but he was interrupted. “What do you mean someone just died in front of you? Jensen what happened?” Jared had caught that part of Jensen’s confession and fixated on it. He now knew ‘this’ was where Jensen’s outburst had come from...it wasn’t anything Jared had done wrong, it was sheer terror that something could have happened to him. 

Jensen paused for a long moment, then sighed. When he rubbed his race and looked down with his hands on his hips, Jared knew it was because Jensen wasn’t used to doing this. He was used to internalizing his job, and everything else. “Jen, it’s me. You can tell me. What happened?” Jared’s soft encouragement wasn’t pushy or demanding, it was patient and kind. 

Jensen finally looked up and cleared his throat. He wasn’t looking directly in Jared’s eyes yet, still waiting for words. “It was just a car accident. It’s common. It happens every day. I saw it coming and I’ve handled them a hundred times. People die, people don’t, you know? It shouldn’t affect me like this but,” Jensen shrugged. He looked down and took a moment to rub his hand over his faced again. 

Jared took his face between his hands and rubbed his thumbs back and forth on the older man’s cheeks, watching Jensen with loving compassion and waiting until the older man looked up. “Who didn’t make it?” Jared’s soft question urged Jensen to explain, though this was the part that was hardest to share. Jensen glanced at him, “A mother,” then he looked down and sighed, “A mother of two kids that were in the car with her.” 

Jensen took a deep breath and released it, then met Jared’s eyes, “Guy just plowed into them, ran right through a red light and she probably never saw it coming.” Jared’s eyes filled with instant sadness and angst for what Jensen had to deal with, “Jensen, I’m so sorry.” Jensen half smiled at him, then looked down. He wasn’t used to this. How the hell was he supposed to get used to this? 

“The kids survived,” Jensen continued, “The impact was so hard, the bolts in the floorboard that hold the seatbelts wrenched partially loose. The van was older, they were probably rusted. Everything was a jumbled mess with crooked seats and kids jerked from their belts. JD and I climbed in while fire was enroute. The little girl was probably about six or seven, laying on her stomach. Out cold but alive.” 

Jensen had to pause and look down for a moment to regroup. When he looked up, Jared’s eyes were locked on his, filled with understanding and compassion. “JD noticed some shoes way in back where the third bench seat was. They were too small to be hers. At first I thought,” Jensen stopped and swallowed. He looked down, feeling hot tears threaten, but determined not to let them come. 

He looked back up, reminding himself this was ‘not’ the same scene six years ago with a dead two year old and his mother, stabbed to death in the kitchen. There were tiny little shoes then, too. “Way in the back,” Jensen continued, “behind the bench seat...there he was.” Jensen looked at Jared in wonder, “There was a little guy in a carseat...completely intact. Probably about a year old.” 

Jensen smiled at Jared, while Jared smiled in return. Thank god Jensen had found some light in the awful tragedy. “Was he okay?” Jared asked that question softly while rubbing his hands up and down Jensen’s arms. Jensen nodded, “He was a little banged up but looking at me. He was scared, about to cry and maybe a little bit concussed, but,” Jensen cleared his throat, “he instantly decided to trust me. For some reason, he trusted me.” 

“He had a gash on his head and his little shoes had flown all over the car so he probably had some bruises I couldn’t see, but...” Jensen looked down and now he felt the tears come. Why the hell had this bothered him so much? When he looked up, Jared saw tears threatening, “He trusted me to hold a pad to his head and stop the bleeding...and he grabbed my finger and held onto it.” 

“I just couldn’t believe he trusted a perfect stranger like that...he trusted me...and he had no idea his mom wasn’t coming back.” Jared’s eyes filled. He had a feeling Jensen never got to share things until now...he never shared his day with anyone like this. Jensen said, “I guess it felt like I was supposed to save her for him...and I couldn’t.” 

Jensen was such a beautiful soul...but the shit he dealt with on a day to day basis wasn’t anything the average person could understand. Jared wanted to. He really wanted to be there every second for this incredible man. 

Jensen took steadying breaths and swiped his eyes, having just about enough of this bullshit. This emotional crap wasn’t acceptable. Where the fuck was it coming from? And goddamn if Jared didn’t have his own waterworks flooding his understanding compassionate eyes as he smoothed Jensen’s short hair back and kept rubbing his head and shoulders lovingly. 

“I’m not supposed to be a basket case, you know,” Jensen glanced up at Jared and bitched, “I’m a trained professional...and I shouldn’t be laying any of my shit on ‘you’.” Jensen looked up at his lover with a half smile, an offer of apology in his eyes for burdening Jared with his outburst. 

The younger man instantly turned argumentative, “And why shouldn’t you lay it on me? Jensen, that’s what I’m here for...that’s what I am. You lay everything on me and let me share it...let me have it all. I’m so honored that you told me about this. And if you’re not used to somebody caring about you enough to listen then you better get used to it.” 

Jared kissed Jensen’s forehead, even though he was a bit fumed after his protective outburst. Jensen took a moment to absorb that he had just been kind of chewed out. “And stop being pissed off at yourself,” Jared wasn’t done, though he had softened his tone, “The reason this bothers you so much is because you care and things affect you deeply. It’s what makes you the best at what you do. It’s why I’m so in love with you.” 

Jensen stared into Jared’s beautiful grey hazel mixed eyes. Right now, they were filled with determination to make Jensen see that they were together in this, and Jared was not about to let his lover harbor things and handle them alone. Jensen wasn’t alone anymore, that was for damn sure. The older man slowly smiled and sighed in acceptance. How the hell had he gotten so lucky? 

“Thank you,” Jensen said softly. He watched the adorable confusion come over Jared’s face for a second, then continued, “Thank you for changing my life, baby. You’re making me a better man.” Jared snorted a mocking sound of disbelief, “You don’t need to be a better man. I’m not doing anything. I just see it in you, that’s all...and I’m here to remind you of it when you’re being an asshole to yourself.” 

Jared waited a few seconds for Jensen to absorb that. Jensen’s eyebrow raised but he simply stood there with a knowing smirk. He seemed to be stuck staring at Jared for the moment. Not knowing what to say, Jared motioned behind him. He nervously started to explain, “Uhm, there’s gourmet burgers from that place you told me about, and salads if you,” Jared didn’t even get to finish his sentence when Jensen grabbed his face between his hands again and kissed him. 

Jared’s mouth opened immediately to the sensational tongue swipes against his lips. He sighed in pleasure, as he was swept away by the loving assault of Jensen’s tongue. Jensen tasted and savored his way through every part of Jared’s oral cavity. He swiped across every detail, tasting and dancing over Jared’s teeth and gums in an attempt to make up for way too many hours of Jared’s company that he’d lost today. ‘This’ was the greeting he should have given Jared. 

Jensen backed from the kiss after sliding his tongue lovingly against Jared’s a few more times, giving him every ounce of the proper ‘hello’ he should have done when he first came in. Jensen backed away slowly, kissing Jared’s lips a couple more soft times, then staring into his eyes. Jared was disheveled. He had definitely lost all train of thought. His dreamy gaze was focused on Jensen, with deep adoration in the hazel grey beauties.

“I love you, Jared,” Jensen said with soft conviction, brushing a thumb back and forth on the tender skin, “I love you so much it hurts to think someone might hurt you again, or take you away from me. I’m so sorry I let that influence the way I acted when I first got here.” 

Jensen smoothed Jared’s hair back, watching the loving devotion coming from Jared’s heart through his eyes. The younger man smiled softly, “It’s okay...I understand.” He cleared his throat, still spiralling from that kiss, “And I love you too, Jensen.” They kissed once more, then Jared pulled back and tugged Jensen’s elbow to pull him to the table. “Come on. Sit...eat,” he ordered, as he pulled a chair out for Jensen to sit. 

The older man got himself comfortable, smirking at being manhandled, while Jared grabbed the food from the oven and a couple beers from the refrigerator. “Here,” he sat the beer on the table, “you probably need both.” Jensen glanced up and smiled at him, “Thanks,” then took the first one and gulped half of it without pause, while Jared went and got a third beer for himself. 

Jensen took a break to breathe, then sucked down more of the blessed drink, while Jared brought over the cardboard ‘to go’ cartons and dropped them unceremoniously on the table. They were hot as fuck. Jensen looked up in guilty concern, “You didn’t eat yet?” Jared rolled his eyes, “No Starsky, I waited for my hot as fuck boyfriend to show up before I ate.” He kissed Jensen quickly, then sat down and started pulling apart his own entree while Jensen started in on his...except the detective sergeant did a double take when he noticed something else. 

“Hey,” Jensen started to complain, “why aren’t you wearing your sling?” Jared shrugged in annoyance, “I wore it all damn day. It’s a fucking hindrance,” he said, then bit into his first fork full of salad. Jensen took a bite of salad, moaned and rolled his eyes are the heavenly taste, then remembered his complaint, “You’re supposed to wear it. Does it hurt?” Jared shook his head, chewing, “M-m.” He swallowed his bite before elaborating, “It’s not painful unless I forget and lift something or bash it against something.” 

Jensen assessed him for a few seconds, while eating. He watched Jared’s facial expressions as the younger man grabbed his drink and lifted his burger, just to gauge whether Jared was actually admitting to the joint hurting, or not. He couldn’t see much of a reaction, so Jensen accepted that for now. Still, he wondered just how many times Jared had bashed it against something today, or forgotten to baby it.

“Jesus fuck,” Jensen mumbled, in between moans and growls of appreciation. His eyes rolled up several times at the juicy taste of his entree. He had told Jared about this fantastic burger joint and the accountant obviously listened. He’d ordered him a stacked burger with the works of mushrooms, bacon and onions. God, it was fantastic.

After they’d eaten their fill, both men leaned back in their chairs and sipped their drinks for awhile. “God, that was fantastic,” Jensen started the conversation, “so tell me what happened today. Did you deliver the news?” Jared nodded casually, “Yeah. He wasn’t the one I ‘wanted’ to talk to, but he was the only one there so I had to.” Jensen’s forehead crinkled with concentrated concern, “You mean Barron?” 

Jared nodded, “Yeah.” He shrugged, “He was actually okay. Unfriendly, cold, to the point...but that’s normal for him.” Jared took a sip of his beer and put it on the table, “I got it over with, so that’s it.” He picked up the discarded empty take out containers and headed for the trash compactor. Jared spoke over his shoulder, knowing he was about to drop an unpleasant bit of information, “There are a couple trips for me to train the new guy before I leave.” 

Jensen stared at him in silence, not looking too happy. His internal concern for Jared’s safety heightened. He didn’t like this but he wasn’t going to react like he had earlier and blurt something shitty out. Jared threw the boxes and wrappers out, then returned to the table. He sat down and faced Jensen again, “No Singapore...just Ottawa and Tallahassee.” Jensen stewed quietly, but his face was laced with worry. 

Jared tried to sound uplifting, as he continued, but he wasn’t feeling too thrilled about the 1,800 mile trip to Ottawa, either, “Tallahassee’s normal...I’ve done that so many times and we’re always back the same night, but Ottawa? That’s a new one for me. Reiner and Damian used to do that, but they don’t have another finance person right now so,” he shrugged, “I’m it.” 

Jensen leaned forward, “Jared, Damian reported squirrelly shit to his contact about Ottawa and Singapore. Both are hubs for their trafficking and maybe drugs too. Toronto was some kind of pick up or drop, but so was Ottawa. Baby, this worries the shit out of me. I don’t wanna come off as a crazed over protective boyfriend but I can’t ignore being a cop. You’re probably going to be handling illegal transactions...and that speaks danger to me...danger to ‘you’, who I happen to be head over heels for.”

Jared looked disbelieving and confused for a moment, as he tried to process Jensen’s head over heels comment alongside the selling of human beings. He thought about what Jensen said and he tried to make sense of it, “But they wouldn’t trust me with anything bad, they know I’m leaving. It’s probably just so I can run through all the processes and accounting with the new guy. That’s who they really want. He’s worked for them before. They’re not going to let me see anything.” 

After a pause, Jared looked at Jensen with guilt in his eyes, “Jensen, I might have worked on illegal money, already. What if I have? They don’t share crap with me, just deposits and investments, taxes and it’s always real estate or businesses. I’ve seen some borderline real estate deals, but they’re really more cutthroat and hostile, not illegal. They’ve taken over companies and run people out of their neighborhoods, turning properties into commercial but...” he shrugged, “I’ve never come across anything other than loopholes, ya know?”

Jensen sighed in frustration. Jared was right. It could be something he’d already been working on without even realizing it, ‘or’, they were keeping it away from the younger man because he wasn’t the type to willingly fall into their game. Still, Jensen knew from the files that Banks had given him, the deals in Ottawa and Singapore had been huge. There was no way Jared wouldn’t notice them...and if they were to them put before him on that trip, or after, he’d know exactly what they were. Jensen inwardly prayed the new guy who took over would be the only one involved.

Jensen asked, “Jare, are you sure Barron seemed relaxed around you? He didn’t seem off like he wasn’t buying your reason for leaving...like he was suspicious, or even pissed off?” Jared thought it over, then shook his head, “No. No, he seemed perfectly normal.” He snorted mockingly, “But he always looks pissed...and suspicious and judgmental and condescending.” 

Jared rubbed his face, then rested his chin in his hand with a sigh, “I’m so glad I’m leaving. I went around and told the others in the office. They were disappointed, but they were nice, at least.” He looked back at Jensen, “Barron’s assured me before that they like my honesty. They even ran some of my transactions after Damian disappeared so they know I’m not doing anything behind their back. For him, that was a pretty giving thing to say.” 

Jensen so wished someone had stumbled upon Damian/Todd by now so they had something solid. There were just too many circumstantial hunches here. They needed solid evidence in order to even get a warrant to search the mother fucker’s businesses and residences. He sighed, resting on the back of his chair to try and believe this would all be okay. 

“So, when are these trips?” Jared could plainly tell his lover was brooding over this latest upset. Jensen was trying hard to stay calm about it all. “Barron didn’t say, he just warned me they were coming.” Jared shrugged a shoulder, “I hope they’re not before the weekend. I was kind of hoping to see my parents on Saturday.” 

Jared half smiled and looked down. Jensen could tell his thoughts had changed direction and were now about his discussion with his parents. He leaned forward and rested his hands on top of Jared’s, “Hey.” When the younger man looked up, Jensen smiled softly, “It’s going to be alright. They love you.” Jared nodded. He wished he could stop worrying, but he supposed after it was out in the open, he would. 

Jensen kept one of his hands on both of Jared’s, his thumb rubbed back and forth. His other hand braced his chin, supported by his elbow on the table. He forced himself to accept Jared’s upcoming situation, but mentally argued with himself at the same time. The protector in him wanted to follow Jared’s group all the way to Ottawa and surveil the hell out of them. He knew it wasn’t feasible, manpower-wise, but damn if he didn’t have a problem with this. 

What if they trusted his lover so much they felt comfortable getting him involved. Jared would feel compelled to stop it, to do something, Jensen knew this. “Baby, do you remember your promise to me?” Jensen got Jared’s attention with his soft question. Jared looked up innocently, “Huh?” Jensen grinned, loving this man so much, “Your promise not to do anything...not to try and steal any evidence, record anything...don’t take any pictures they could catch you at? You remember that, right?” 

Jared furrowed his forehead, “Of course, I remember. I haven’t, Jensen.” The older man nodded, “I know, I know, but...” He paused and sighed, looking at Jared with such regret that Jared was confused for a second. “Baby, I know you better now...and I know how good you are. It would be just like you to not get yourself out of there before you tried to right the wrong and save everybody else first. You’ve got some kind of a sign on your back that says ‘attack me’ too and if this trip gets you in the middle of something you don’t agree with,” Jensen paused and sighed again, “well, I’m just freaking out a little at what you’ll try and do. Jared you’ll be all alone. I can make phone calls in Ottawa, fly there, but it’s not immediate. Unless I can go with you, I can’t back you up and it’s killing me.” 

Jared leaned forward, “I’m gonna be fine. I promise, Jen. It’s gonna suck, but I’ll be back and this’ll be over.” Jared held Jensen’s gaze for awhile, marvelling at how deeply he’d fallen for this man. Jensen finally forced himself to relax. There was not much he could do in this moment. At least they didn’t seem to be pissed at Jared for anything. If they could just keep the innocent kid off these people’s radar, then he could sail out of there unscathed. 

They relaxed on the couch for awhile, the fireplace warm and cozy. The older man giggled when Jared mentioned how it was about time they ran up his gas bill instead of Jensen’s. There were additional beers consumed, and a lazy make out session. Each man was too tired to do much more and the slow buzz of the alcohol just amplified their oncoming sleepiness. Stockinged feet rubbed against shins and toes nestled each other as they laid in one another’s arms for awhile.

They were exhausted. The day had been long and busy. When they went into Jared’s bedroom around ten, the younger man urged Jensen to lay on the bed with his shirt off. Jensen’s handsome face was drawn and tired and Jared had had enough of seeing him that way. He popped the cap on some lotion and began rubbing the cop’s muscular shoulders. 

“Mmmmm,” Jensen moaned in heavenly bliss. Jared rubbed and kneaded at the thick knots, feeling them melt away under his touch. “Mmmgod,” Jensen wasn’t capable of communicating much more than that. God, it felt so good. He was floating. Not only were Jared’s hands like magic, they were loving and strong at the same time. Jared pushed the knots away, forced them to release, then smoothed the muscles and tendons in reward for their compliance. 

The accountant thoroughly enjoyed himself, even though he was beyond tired, too. He loved the fact that he could relax Jensen to mere putty. When he heard the detective sergeant snore, he grinned and kissed him lightly on the shoulder. Jared worked the covers over his beautiful lover, then went around the condo to turn off lights and the gas fireplace. He came back to join Jensen under the covers and took a few seconds to admire his handiwork. 

Jensen was the picture of innocent relaxation and trust. There were no worry lines on his face, his features completely slack. Jared took a few moments to stare at the gorgeous hunk, then kissed him very lightly on the side of the head, whispering, “Good night Starsky,” before turning the light off and going to sleep. Jared’s phone alarm was always set for six a.m. He knew it would probably seem like five minutes before the damn thing beeped it’s overly happy tune. He really hated mornings. 

‘Fuck,’ and there it was. The fucking thing was singing already. Jared pissily reached over and silenced his phone with one eye barely opened. He swore it had only been ten minutes. He dropped the phone back on the nightstand and nestled under the covers for a few extra minutes of blissful slumber. Jared’s eyes popped open when he felt a large heated body behind him move. A grumbling noise, followed by a heavy muscular arm surrounding his waistline reminded him he was not alone. 

Jared soon realized his elbow was throbbing painfully. He was on his left side right now, but he figured he probably slept on his right most of the night and had all his weight on it. Jensen was on his right. It made perfect sense. Jared never thought of himself as a snuggly type person, but damn he was like koala hugging a tree with Jensen in his bed. ‘Wow,’ this side of him really took some getting used to. 

Jensen seemed to be struggling. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, slowly coming to awareness that it was time to get up. “Damn, Jare, what did you do to me?” Jared sluggishly turned his head toward Jensen and smirked. He wanted to be irritable about the morning, but it was no longer happening. “What?” Jared looked confusedly at his lover.

Jensen rolled him over so he could place himself half on top of Jared and look down into his face, “I’m saying I had the hottest young man on the planet in bed with me and I failed to engage in any copulative activities. What the hell did you do to me?” Jared smiled and smoothed Jensen’s short hair. It was poking in all different directions and cute as hell. “How did you sleep?” 

Jared’s sleepy gorgeous eyes were sporting some very light greys this morning. Jensen wondered where the hazel went that was there last night. “I have no idea,” the adorable warrior kissed him quick, “but I feel amazing so I guess I slept like a stone.” Jensen rubbed Jared’s hair with one hand and added, “Thanks to you.” 

Jared sighed, “we have to get up,” then forced himself to roll toward the edge of the bed and sit up. Jensen copied him, using the opposite side of the bed. Both men yawned once again. “Fuck, I hate mornings,” the accountant bitched, then got up and headed for the bathroom. 

Jensen perked up a little at the view of Jared in pajama bottoms and socks. He looked down at himself and realized he had worn the same. Somewhere along the way, Jared had coaxed the detective to change into them. Jensen was glad nothing emergency like happened last night. He was obviously out of commission. He watched Jared brush his teeth and start to shave. 

Jensen was glad the younger man had left the bathroom door ajar. It was a gorgeous sight watching Jared do anything. The officer sighed to himself and thanked his good fortune once again. He rolled his head back and forth, testing out the loose tendons in his neck that had been worked over last night. Jesuschrist, Jared had magic in his hands. Jensen would have to get used to sharing some of his work with him, though. ‘That’ had been a new experience. He didn’t know if he liked it yet, but damn if he slept better than he ever had. 

Jensen made coffee with espresso while Jared finished his shower. When he heard the younger man exit the steam filled bathroom, Jensen downed his first cup quick and sat it down. He went to partake in his own morning prep. On the way by Jared, towelling off his dripping nakedness, he stopped to kiss him quick on the lips, then continued his way into the bathroom, groaning with a backward glance. 

Both lovers knew that anything they started now would ‘not’ get them to work on time. Probably not for hours. That didn’t mean it wasn’t a struggle for Jensen not to engage something with that smooth delectable body. Jesus, Jared’s lack of clothing was not helping. When Jensen managed to finish his morning routine and dry off, he found some clothes on the bed that had been laid out for him. He smiled to himself. Jared loaned him some underwear and socks, put a couple plain t-shirts out for him to choose from, and even found a denim over shirt like the ones Jensen usually wore to hide his gun. 

Jensen would have to wear his same jeans over again. Jared fit in his, though they were loose and almost a little high at the ankle, but Jensen had a thicker midrif and thighs. It wasn’t going to be too professional to show up at work stuffed into Jared’s slightly leaner size. ‘JD would love it,’ Jensen thought as he rolled his eyes. When Jensen went into the hallway, wearing everything but his jeans and shoes, he ran smack into Jared. 

His hands went to Jared’s elbows to steady him, then he glanced down. The accountant was holding up his jeans from the day before, still hot from the dryer. Apparently, Jared had thrown them in the wash for him, knowing they were soiled with yesterday’s accident scene. 

Jared’s consideration was too much for the older man to handle. He’d waken up next to the warm muscular handsome adonis, left him to shower alone, had to endure a naked Jared dressing in the next room, and now he was expected to just let this go? ‘Nope,’ Jensen told himself. 

Jensen slid his hands around the slim waist. Jared had on his suit pants and shoes, but only the undershirt so as to keep from getting coffee on his dress shirt. He smelled amazing. Jensen pulled him snug against him, the jeans squished between them. One of his hands came up to slide behind Jared’s head, as the younger man’s left hand slid up to Jensen’s shoulder. His right was still holding the jeans. 

“Thank you,” Jensen said softly. He pulled Jared’s head toward him and kissed the accountant beautifully with long swipes of his tongues. Loving strokes coaxed Jared to open up and respond. Soon they were enjoying swollen smooth lips and hot wet tongues in a passionate exchange. Heat skyrocketed quickly, both lovers moaning hungrily into each other’s mouths. 

When their cocks touched through material, each man knew this would get messy if they didn’t pull back. They broke apart with a moan, instantly turned faces to the side to breathe and find some sort of balance. ‘Fuck,’ Jensen felt like he was nineteen. Jared had taken years off of him. Jared struggled with his will, trying cool the inner boil for now, until they could get home tonight and ‘really’ do something about it. 

Jensen rubbed his hands on Jared’s arms, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start something like that, it just sort of happens anyway with you.” Jared snickered, pulling away and handing Jensen his jeans, “Don’t be sorry. It’s just a prelude of tonight.” He kissed Jensen quick, stealing a peck on the older man’s lips without trying to ignite anything further. After that, Jared went back to his bedroom to put on his dress shirt and tie. 

Jensen slipped on his jeans in the hallway, then went to the door to find his shoes. After getting them on, he walked over to the kitchen and saw a couple english muffin halves with fried eggs and a little cheese on top of them. “Fucking sweet!” Jared smiled from the bedroom when he heard his lover’s outburst from the kitchen. He wasn’t any gourmet cook, but he did manage to whip up a little copy cat McMuffin, once in awhile. 

Jared returned to find the cop enjoying his morning sandwich, in between additional sips of espresso laden coffee. It was a good morning. Jared adjusted his tie, using the little mirror in the hallway to make sure it was straight. He flicked his head, ordering the hair to lay back a bit, then heard Jensen pipe in with his mouth half full, “God it’s hot when you do that.” 

Jared looked at Jensen with a snarky disbelief, “What?” Jensen rolled his eyes, “That hair flick thing. Turns me on, that’s what.” Jensen bit into more of his muffin, mumbling to himself, “among everything else you do.” Jared walked toward Jensen and took out a slew of different colored organic vitamins and laid them out on the bar. He glanced between them and Jensen, still not sure what the hell the older man was on about. Jared had never thought of himself at ‘hot’, per se, but he was glad his lover thought so. 

“What the fuck do you need those for with that perfect body of yours?” Jensen’s comment had Jared smirking while he downed every one of the vitamins with Jensen’s coffee. He took the cup right out of the detective’s hand. “They give me energy when I remember to take them.” After Jared finished swallowing the last horse pill, he grumbled a bit about doing a bunch of new accounts today that he’d never done before. With no other accountants, he really needed to concentrate to fill in and that required keeping his energy up. 

Jensen brooded for a moment to himself about Jared’s predicament. He turned and poured more coffee with another shot of espresso in it. When he turned back, he noticed Jared putting his suit jacket on. God, the kid looked totally fucking edible in that suit. Jensen’s attention was suddenly drawn to the subtle flinch his lover made when he used that wounded elbow. 

Scrolling through his clouded memory of the night before, he realized Jared hadn’t worn the sling, at all, and he’d been using that arm quite a bit. Jensen put down his cup and walked over to Jared. “Hey,” he slipped an arm around Jared’s waist, as he placed his other hand on Jared’s hurt elbow. Jensen looked up into Jared’s eyes and showed his worry, “this is hurting you.” 

Jared would’ve denied it. He would have argued maybe a month ago, made up something half assed, but with Jensen he couldn’t stomach it. With Jensen, he was an open book. The detective was too concerned about him and that loving warmth in his eyes completely melted Jared’s resolve. He nodded, looking down at the offending appendage, “Yeah.” 

Jensen rubbed his thumb back and forth on the joint, “Why didn’t you say something, love? Do you need a painkiller?” Jared looked indecisive so Jensen tried to assure him, “Take the motrin. It won’t impair that brilliant grey matter of yours with all those vitamins pulsing through it.” Jensen smiled at Jared’s cute look of surprise and shy grin. When he nodded an ‘ok’, Jensen went to retrieve a pill for him. 

Jared took the pill and two swallows of Jensen’s brew, then the older man took the sling off the bar and gently put it back on Jared’s arm. He adjusted the straps and smoothed the younger man’s hair back after gently laying the injured arm against Jared’s stomach. “Okay?” Jensen’s loving gesture made Jared feel cherished. He was so touched by it, he wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. He nodded and returned the soft smile, “Thank you.” 

Jensen suddenly turned serious, his eyes still laden with concern, “I want you to be careful today...please. Call me if you need me there and I’ll come. And if you take that jacket off, put the sling back on.” Jared nodded, then he thought of something, “Jensen wouldn’t you get into trouble for just barging in there without a warrant, or something?” Jensen smirked, “I don’t need a warrant to pick up my boyfriend.” 

Jared’s caught off guard “Oh,” was followed by a slight blush and shy smirk. Jensen was pretty much toast. He sighed and shook his head, “It’s gonna be a long day.” The lovers kissed quick before they got in their cars and drove to work. Jensen stopped at a red light and looked at his phone. He thought the vibration might be Jared, at first, but it was actually Jeff Morgan. ‘Burrito?’, the text read. 

Jensen responded, ‘Nope thx, ate’. He made it to the station and went inside to partake in a dayshift briefing before he headed to his office. JD showed up minutes after the briefing had started, sat behind Jensen and began unwrapping his breakfast treat. Jensen knew he was hiding. They weren’t supposed to eat in briefing rooms, but everyone did it. Officers flew in last minute after dropping their kids off at school or dealing with some traffic jam. It was common. Still, you didn’t like to be obvious. 

After briefing was over, the two sergeants headed for Jensen’s office. Jeff sat across from his friend and finished his burrito while Jensen emptied his ‘in’ basket. “So...you gettin’ burrito’s with somebody else, old man? Possibly somebody younger...cuter...a lot smarter and incredibly tall?” Jensen smirked at JD’s question, still studying an open file. “Mmm,” he feigned nonchalance, “well it was actually waiting for me today. Little eggs on toasted english muffins with sprinkled cheese,” he shrugged and shook his head without looking up, “goddamn cute, that’s what it was...espresso included.” 

Jensen proceeded to scribble his signature on the bottom of a report, as JD processed that comment. “What the fuck did you do to deserve espresso? You’re being spoiled. You should be making ‘him’ espresso.” Jensen sighed in mocked irritation and shook his head. After a few seconds of silence, he confessed with what sounded like a brag, “I’ve made it for him.” 

Jeff smirked while chewing, as Jensen closed the file and placed it in his ‘out’ box. “But you’re right about the spoiled part,” he added. Jensen leaned back in his chair, resting his chin in his hand in a dreamy relaxed pose, “He’s fucking perfect, JD...absolutely fucking perfect.” Morgan threw his wrappers away and took a few sips of his coffee from a covered paper cup before he leaned back in his own chair and smirked at Jensen. 

“He’s gotta be perfect, if he can put that look on your face, you old crotchety fart. Jesus, Ackles, look at all the fucked up times you’ve tried at relationships and I’ve had to...” “Shut up,” Jensen angrily cut him off, then sighed, “Please shut up,” as he looked down. He certainly didn’t need to be reminded of all his terrible twenties and early thirties. Jensen folded hands. 

After a few seconds, he shook his head and looked up at Jeff again, “This is so different. I have this amazing other piece to my life and,” he shook his head again, “I’m so in love I can’t see straight half the time.” Jeff smiled and watched him. This was so fucking priceless. After a few seconds of silence, Jensen confessed, “I snapped at him when I came through the door last night because he’d left it unlocked.” 

Jensen sighed and looked down again, still ashamed of that moment, “He didn’t deserve it.” He looked back at Jeff, “He never deserves that, JD, I can’t come home like that...he’s too important to me.” Jeff leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk, hands folded. He studied Jensen closely. “Did you tell him about your day with our dead mom and the kids?” 

Jeff was curious whether Jensen was letting Jared ‘in’ to that part of himself. A lot of officers lost spouses over the inability to share the job. It took a unique person that could handle being someone’s other half when they dealt with blood and guts, violence and all kinds of unplanned tragedies. 

Jensen nodded, “Yeah,” then paused for a few seconds, “I told him and I sort of lost it and he listened. He babied me, which I didn’t deserve, fed me a burger from Jed’s and then we just laid around for awhile until bed time. It’s like he sensed what I needed...and maybe he needed it too after I was such a dick.” 

Jeff smiled inwardly, pleased at what he was hearing. He wanted these two men to work out so bad. Jensen was happier than he’d ever seen him. Jared was so good for him. Jensen continued in a forlorn tone, like he was retelling something he regretted, but Jeff knew it was fake, “Then he tricked me to sleep with some kind of witches massage that felt fucking fantastic. I don’t remember anything else until the damn alarm this morning.” 

Jensen looked up at Jeff, slight worry in his eyes, “He handed me my damn jeans from yesterday and they’d been washed and dried. I had this perfect little breakfast on the bar. The kid has me wrapped so tight I can’t think.” Jensen shook his head, as Jeff smiled outwardly this time. He wholeheartedly approved of his friend looking this out of sorts. Jensen further stressed, “He worries the shit out of me, Jeff, how the hell am I supposed to make it when he works in the middle of shitsville and knowing someone could take him away from me in a heartbeat?” 

JD guffawed, “Whoah, whoah there Sparky. No one’s offing the kid on our watch and he isn’t going anywhere...sounds like he’s in it for the long run, don’t worry...just because we deal with shit every day doesn’t meant it’s gonna happen to him.” Jensen interjected, “It already has!” Jensen raised his voice, “Poor kid’s been attacked twice, and then he was drugged. He’s got a fucking sign on him.” 

Morgan nodded, silently agreeing because it was certainly a higher caliber of being a victim than most. “You’re right,” he shrugged, “I know, and I get it, Jensen. You love him. You’re gonna worry, that’s just part of the territory. And I pray to Jesus, Mary and Joseph that’s it for him, I really do.” JD leaned toward Jensen again, “But we’ve gotta work on your entrance, guy. You can’t blow off steam like that without a proper greeting first, okay?” 

Jensen sighed in frustration as his friend continued with a placating hand up, “You love him and you’re worried. All the shit we’ve seen, it’s normal. Sounds like he gets it too, Jensen and you’re not gonna scare him off. Just make sure you control it. Like you said, he doesn’t deserve it.” 

Jensen nodded, then he took a turn listening to his friend’s tall tale of his evening. He’d been seeing a trauma nurse for quite a while and Jensen could tell it was more serious than JD let on. JD had definitely had someone to talk to about his job for the last year, and last night was no exception. It was a plus. A trauma nurse dealt with all kinds of crap and the match was a good one. Jensen wondered if JD would ever get off his ass and marry the woman. 

“S’not for me, Ackles. I like the way things are. Company, sex, companionship, hysterical sense of humor...goddamn we laugh.” Morgan glanced up at Jensen, seeing the grin on Jensen’s face. He turned serious then, “Things are perfect...there’s lots of space to fart, scratch and drink beer. Why fuck that up and ruin it with all that mushy shit?” 

Jensen studied his friend. They were both talented at hiding their true feelings from years of field work and the military. Sometimes it was quite the surprise to even find out there were still feelings in there. “Why not,” Jensen shrugged, “you can do all that around her....you probably already do, dumb ass, and she hasn’t run off yet.” Jensen rolled his eyes, “God knows why.” He leaned forward, “You don’t have as much space as you think, idiot, because you talk about her every Monday. If you’re spending that much time together, you’ve kinda already snatched her up permanently.” 

Jensen pulled more of his work closer and started to sift through the pile. He let his friend stew over that for awhile. Morgan looked to the side, and after a few seconds he added, “I don’t think she’s the marrying type.” Jensen glanced at him, in between his work, “What makes you think that?” Jeff looked at him and shrugged, “I don’t know...maybe it’s just that we’re both rough around the edges. I don’t see her in a frilly dress with all those flowers and crap.” 

Jensen looked up again and had to grin because his gruff ballsy kick ass friend was looking slightly unsure of himself. “Not everybody does the frilly, JD.” He went back to studying one of his reports, continuing the conversation, “Have you ever tried giving her flowers?” Jeff looked at him opened mouth, kind of put out that Jensen had to ask, “Of ‘course’ I have, asswipe, I’ve given her red roses too...twice!” Jensen smirked to himself, knowing this was derailing his thick skinned friend. 

Their morning conversation soon ended when JD checked his watch and stood up. “Well we’re on point today...those three we nabbed last week sang like canaries so we’re gonna finish up that fuckin’ chop shop for good.” Jensen glanced up, “Good. You got enough people?” Jeff nodded, “Oh yeah. Nobody called in sick.” He turned to leave and Jensen yelled after him, “You need us, you call me.” Jeff waved a thank you behind him as he left Jensen’s unit and went to start the surveillance operation with his own team. 

Jensen finished the last report and did some timesheets. He went over to his lead detective and both men finished planning their back up of the narcs team meth lab operation scheduled for this weekend. Jensen wouldn’t be a part of it, but four of his team would and he always liked to know what kind of situation they were in. Jensen and Jeff agreed that having twelve people under you was like being a surrogate big brother most of the time. You cared about their safety, even when you had to correct them. It was a huge responsibility and Jensen wasn’t losing anybody to bad safety practices on his watch. 

His team of detectives was mostly fragmented today, each doing their own follow ups on thefts, internet crimes and one domestic. After he ran down their progress, he went with his lead to interview an elderly couple who had paid a huge amount of money to someone claiming to be a cement layer. This was the seventh complaint. The man never returned, after promising to replace their driveway.

Normally, Jensen left this field work to his subordinates, but he and JD were well known for their willingness to get involved and help their line staff. The supervisor role didn’t stop them from working along side their team and it was the reason there was a transfer request list three feet long to get on each man’s team. It was cool to know they were well respected. 

Morgan’s operation went well with a successful entry and fourteen arrests. The main players were caught and Jensen knew Morgan would be bragging for weeks about it. Jensen laughed to himself when he heard the snarky arrogance of his friend over the radio. His friend was definitely on a high. 

Jensen finished interviews with all seven of the elderly victims. He compared notes with his lead, knowing damn well this was one of those crimes that was near to impossible to head off at the pass. They couldn’t put cameras on thousands of people’s homes, nor did they have the manpower to sit and wait. What they could do is inform people to call them with every cement guy that asked for an appointment. That was something. 

The two men were on their way back to the station to organize the distribution of notices about the fraud to as many senior citizens as they could. They had several non sworn units, in addition to neighborhood watch groups. They would use them to get the word out. They had a good description of the man too and were going to check arrest records of people with the same crimes. 

Jensen was just thinking about a late lunch when all hell broke loose on the radio about a shooting in district four. His lead took off that way, while Jensen advised dispatch to put them on the call. The scene turned out to be ugly. There were civilians inside with a heavily armed shooter who had no intention of coming out. Soon, the barricaded subject had caused nearby streets to be evacuated, a square mile perimeter to be set up with fifty eight cops, and the entire SWAT team had the house surrounded. 

Jensen wound up on an inner perimeter. He was crouched behind the open door of his lead’s county car, his police rifle trained on the silent house. Jensen kept sight on any movement, while his lead detective did the same from his side of the car. The call went long. Two hours went by before negotiations officers luckily talked the guy out of killing everyone and himself. He slowly opened the front door to the police robot, then turned his back as instructed and stood there. 

After officers approached and took the man in custody, Jensen let down his rifle with a sigh. “Fuck, this is why I shouldn’t skip the gym,” he bitched. Jensen rubbed his knees and shook his legs out to get the circulation moving again. After snapping his rifle back in it’s rack, Jensen shook and rubbed his arms. They were killing him, angry about being in the same position for too long. 

Jensen’s lead detective, Marty, shook his own limbs out, agreeing with his boss, but laughing at the man’s grumpy attitude. “Hey,” Jensen chewed at him, “you wait ‘til you’re ten years older, hot shot. Just keep on laughing.” Marty shook his head, chuckling to himself. Jensen was the best sergeant he knew. He was so lucky to work with him. 

The officers took awhile to get out of the scene. Once free, they high tailed it back to the station. Morgan was there, assisting his team with a load of paperwork. When Jensen walked in, he stood from the table he was sitting on and smacked him on the back, “Stuck on perimeter for two hours, how are your arms and legs?” Jensen gave him a snarky response, “Lovely...and how’d you know what position I was in?” 

JD pointed up to the television in the corner, “You’re famous.” Jensen watched while the other officers ran the news backward enough to show Jensen behind his car door in a crouched position with his LER. “Fuck,” he bitched, rolling his eyes, “do they have to film everything?” Morgan laughed out loud, as Jensen walked off and headed for his office. He yawned and slumped into his chair, now noticing it was way past lunch time and almost the end of the day. Christ, he was starving. 

Jeff had followed him. Jensen was chugging a water bottle when the older man leaned into his door frame, “Dinner...drinks...my treat...but you gotta bring the cute genius with you, it’s a requirement.” Jensen smirked around his bottle, then nodded. Dinner out actually sounded fabulous...especially a free one. He took a moment to think it over, though. Would Jared be okay with it? 

JD only invited the good guys...the one’s he and Jensen felt comfortable to eat and drink with...the ones who accepted Jensen’s lifestyle and didn’t have any qualms with it. ‘Okay,’ he convinced himself. He would give Jared a try. 

In the office of Barron and Murray, Jared had been busting his ass through calculations all day. There were several accounts that Reiner had fucked up. It took four hours just to fix them, then Jared was finally able to move on to other things. This was a new area that Barron had given him. Jared had dealt with a couple foreign banks, already, but these accounts were streamlined into off the grid places like Panama, Switzerland and Dubai. 

Jared had to study some of the interest rules, investment restrictions and taxes. He couldn’t help it. Because of his former job, it was ingrained in him to find the best deal for his customers. In this case, that meant his bosses. The whole numbers game was like a bunch of intricate puzzles and he loved figuring them out. This had been challenging, but stimulating at the same time. 

Murray was here today, no Barron. He hadn’t spoken to Jared all day, but that wasn’t anything odd. Toward noon, Jared grabbed a protein shake from the little mini fridge by his desk and walked around to stretch his limbs. Darcy from HR sailed by and offered to get him a sandwich. He shook his head with a polite thank you, but soon regretted it. 

The protein shake had worn off within an hour. Jared pushed himself to ignore his grumbling stomach and finished a few more deposits. By three, he found himself going for a second protein shake, just to take the edge off until dinner. It was the only thing he had with him, unfortunately. 

A little after four, Jared heard loud arguing. Murray was in a heated discussion behind closed doors, but Jared couldn’t tell who the other person was. It sounded like he was on the phone. Suddenly, Barron stormed by. The millionaire came in, holding a cell phone to his ear and heading for Murray’s office. His face was red, which shocked Jared because he’d never seen the man show an ounce of any emotion. 

Barron burst through Murray’s office door and slammed it shut. Jared glanced at some of the other staff he could see. He thought they pretty much all jumped in their chairs at the same time as Jared, when that door slammed. Jared tried to force himself back to work, but the yelling match continued inside the office. It seemed to be Barron that Murray had been arguing with over the phone. Jared had never seen this happen before. 

The fight went on for several minutes. Things were slammed against walls or countertops, but Jared didn’t think they were actually punching each other. Tempers were definitely on a roll. Finally, voices quieted. A long discussion ensued and even though Jared was glad it was more subdued, the reason for the fight left him dying with curiosity, and maybe a little bit elated because these criminals needed a bad day once in awhile. Good, if something went wrong for the rich bastards. 

Jared had just been thinking to himself, ‘somebody steal your load of slaves?’ when Barron swung open the door and came out. Jared tried not to glance up too much and be obvious as the man marched to his own office. Murray came to the door and stood facing Jared’s way for a long minute. 

Jared was sweating now, but he remained focused on his calculations and tried not to ‘look’ like he was sweating. ‘Fuck,’ why was the man staring at him? It was close to five and Jared’s phone began vibrating with little short spurts, telling him he had a text. He knew it was probably Jensen, but there was no fucking way Jared was going to look up right now. 

After a few minutes, Murray finally sighed and sauntered back into his office. Jared breathed a sigh of relief, but his mind still struggled with, ‘What the fuck was that?’ Murray was usually the nicer one, but somehow he’d pissed Barron off. That argument was massive. 

Jensen texted Jared the dinner invitation and finished his water while he waited for a response. He explained in short words it was Jeff’s treat and that a few trusted friends would be with them. Jensen notated the word ‘trusted’ so Jared would understand these were a good crowd. There was Jared’s fear of drinking with people he didn’t know, but also the fact that not everyone would be supportive and welcoming with their relationship. They didn’t have to hide, but Jensen wasn’t going to ever put Jared in the middle of his less than approving coworkers.

Barron came out of his office at five. He approached Jared’s desk and asked, “How did it go with those new items I gave you today?” Jared tried not to look too shocked and quickly closed the open mouthed guppy response at his boss being totally different than he was about thirty minutes ago. 

“Oh,” Jared kickstarted his response with eagerness he didn’t have to fake, “It was fascinating to figure out all the different bank requirements and how to pick the best investment avenues.” Barron raised an eyebrow and studied Jared for a second with a slight smirk, so Jared continued, “I mean...you know, to a numbers experts, it’s fun.” Jared nodded, “Most of the accounts are all secure, Mr. Barron, I just have four more I want to address. I corrected some mistakes I found and it took some time, but...” 

Robert Barron interrupted Jared before he could ramble on, “Don’t worry about it, Jared. You finished a week’s work in a day, just like I knew you would. Take a load off and get some dinner. You can finish tomorrow, alright?” Jared’s guppy jaw dropped again for a second time, but he quickly corrected it. “Oh,” he responded, his eyes darting back and forth, “Okay.”

“We’re going to Tallahassee tomorrow. Leaving at nine thirty and hoping to be back by early evening,” Barron announced, “get some sleep.” The millionaire walked off and Jared was left to process that scene. First of all, Barron was being nicer than usual. Second, Murray was still in his office and quiet with the door open. Jared wasn’t quite sure what to think about this turn of events. He wasn’t going to argue with getting to leave and go eat dinner though. He started to gather his things and put his suit jacket on, then remembered to check his texts. 

Jensen had just put his over shirt back on when his phone rang. It actually buzzed that it was a ring and not a text. After two seconds of panic when he saw Jared’s name in the window, he soon found himself bathing in something warm and soothing that washed through him. Jared’s voice. 

“Is this David Starsky?” Jared’s charming question had Jensen smiling like a smitten nine year old. “Uh, no, but I can be him if that’s what you’re looking for, hot stuff,” Jensen’s response had Jared giggling. Jensen smiled again at the sound. The adorable accountant let him know he was on his way so Jensen gave him directions. Jared sounded tired, but he didn’t seem to have any qualms about going out, so Jensen thought that was promising. He obviously trusted being with Jensen enough to not even question anything. 

Jensen grabbed his things and headed to tell JD. Forty minutes later, Morgan’s four invitees, plus Jensen, pulled into the restaurant in their private cars. It was an excellent place with a spread of barbecue, pasta’s and burgers. The food was locally famous, delicious. Jensen knew Jared would like it...he also knew the poor accountant was probably starving. 

Jensen checked his phone for the fifth time. His eyes searched the parking lot, once again, through the front window, now feeling uneasy because Jared was late. Jeff had bought them their second round. The guys were relaxed and joking now, but Jensen’s tension was becoming obvious to the group. Everyone surrounded him, taking turns at reassuring the sergeant of possible heavy traffic between Jared’s office and here. 

Jensen tried to relax, but his knowledge that Jared’s office was actually a few miles closer to here than the station was didn’t help. Just as he was picturing kicking down doors and going out looking for him, the younger man’s SUV pulled into the parking lot. ‘Thank god,’ Jensen closed his eyes in relief. He tried to convince himself that he wouldn’t be this way if Jared had a ‘normal’ job, but ‘would he?’ Jensen wasn’t sure of that just yet. 

Jared had stopped at Murray’s office to say ‘good night’ but the millionaire wasn’t in there. ‘Huh,’ Jared thought. He supposed he’d missed the man going out earlier. Jared said good night to the other leftover coworkers and headed for the parking lot. He hoped the two bosses were in agreement of him leaving. Murray usually was the one to let him go when they were both here. 

Jared shut the car door and buckled his seatbelt. It was just getting dark outside. After he started the engine, he jumped at the man now looking in his driver’s side window. ‘Jesusfuck,’ Chase Murray was standing there. Jared had no idea how he’d missed the man. After a few seconds, Jared was able to breathe again and released the death grip his had on his door jam and steering wheel. This man had scared the shit out of him. 

When Murray smiled, Jared rolled his window down and tried to smile back over his rattled nerves. “Today was kind of shitty,” Murray started out, “I just wanted to apologize and wish you a good night. Are you alright?” Jared rushed to answer, still nervous about the way Murray seemed to have snuck up on him, “Yes...thank you, yes, I’m fine. I had lots to work on today. It was more complicated...pretty cool, actually.” 

Murray blew smoke to the side, from the cigar he’d been enjoying, then smiled when he answered, “If you say so.” He looked like he was mocking something Jared said, so the accountant assumed it was probably that he’d thought today was cool. He shrugged, “Numbers guy,” then grinned a bit shyly with his explanation. Murray chuckled, seeming to have returned to his normal self now, “Yes, and we’d be screwed without our numbers guy. Thank you for giving us two weeks, Jared. I know we’re traveling again and that’s not what you wanted, but it’s really appreciated that you stayed anyway. We’ll need your expertise in our endeavors. The new guy has experience with our businesses, but he’s not corporate and the Tallahassee hub isn’t something we can show weakness at...I know ‘you’ get that one.” 

Jared smiled at the compliment. Yes, he did get that. They always met with high up partners, rich people who looked at each other just like these two did. The rooms were full of guarded conversations and huge agreements came out of it. “I’ll do my best for you, Mr. Murray. I appreciate the job and I’ve learned so much. It wouldn’t be right for me to leave you hanging like that.” 

Murray smiled coolly, “We picked a good one.” He turned away and walked a few steps from Jared’s car. Jared stayed there. Something about Murray’s demeanor told him the man wasn’t quite right. Maybe he was still reeling from the huge argument. Jared swallowed. He didn’t ask about it because he didn’t want to know. The fact that Murray stood in his doorway earlier and stared at him, though, had Jared feeling on edge. Now, in the parking lot, there was still something off. 

Jared cleared his throat, “Mr. Murray? Is there anything else I can do for you before I go get dinner? Are you alright?” ‘There,’ Jared told himself. He’d just offered a criminal something nice, a nice gesture to show he cared and hopefully Murray would either ease his mind or say something to help Jared shake this nagging uneasiness. Murray turned and stepped closer to the car again. 

Murray stared at him for few long seconds. He seemed to weighing something over before he spoke, “I hired Reiner Jared...and after the arrest for having his stupid petty group of friends put liquid ‘e’ in your drink, I let him come back, thinking it was over. I thought he’d learned his lesson, but Barron chewed my ass from here to next week about it. I promised Reiner he could stay if he left you alone, but Barron fired him.” 

Jared sat perfectly still. He almost couldn’t believe he was hearing this. What the fuck was Murray thinking? A person who thinks it’s okay to drug someone and rape them was okay to let work here? Jared’s hurt pride was struggling to comprehend that this was the good half of the partnership that he would definitely had thought better of. 

Murray continued, “He attacked you and is apparently sitting in jail again. There are some deals Reiner is involved in...heavily. I was trying to get us through those without letting him go beforehand. It doesn’t mean he’s okay in the head, Jared, and it certainly doesn’t absolve what he did. I’m frustrated, however, because the deals he was involved in will only deal with ‘him’ for money exchange. I’m stuck now, and Barron’s truly pissed at me for ever hiring the idiot.” 

Murray sighed, “Especially after all the mistakes you’ve found. Christ, he was a bumbling ass all these years. Now, I’m having trouble getting rid of him because he’s intertwined in some huge undertakings.” Murray perked up, as if he was almost done talking about this subject. He looked at Jared and said, “Anyway, it’s been a huge ordeal, as you can imagine.” 

Jared’s mind screamed, ‘A huge ordeal?’ Then his mouth blurted out, before he could stop it, “A huge ordeal? Do you have any idea how it feels to be tricked with a drug in your drink and know you can’t fight them or stop them if they want to take advantage? If they rape you? Do you have any idea what that’s like, Mr. Murray? This is more than just an ‘ordeal’, it’s a fucking crime. That man is an asshole and then he jumps ‘me’ because you guys fired him. I can’t believe you let him come back. How the hell would I have been able to work with him? How could you allow it?” 

Murray nodded, seemingly impatient now and wanting to end the conversation, “Yes, well, it’s not the situation now. And you had already indicated you were looking for other employment, Jared. We didn’t have another person just yet, like we do now. He’s been scraping off the top, we know, but we thought we might enjoy watching him try and get away with it longer if we kept him under our wing. I thought it could work if I kept him away from you, but Barron obviously thought not.” 

Murray half smiled once again at Jared, “Well, I needed you to know the complication that we were in the middle of...and I’m sorry this impacted you so badly. It wasn’t supposed to ever get you hurt, Jared, and I had no idea Reiner was into something that stupid. I do hope you’re going to be alright and I’m of course willing to write you a reference letter for anything you might need it for in the future. And don’t pay us anything back, we aren’t worried about it. Of all the relationships we have with people who stab each other in the back, it’s refreshing to meet someone such as yourself and actually get to work with him. Refreshing, Jared, truly.” 

Jared had been dismissed. Murray walked off with a wave, as if the whole conversation had been about collectibles or movies. Jared couldn’t believe it. The millionaire he actually ‘liked’ was acting like it wasn’t a big deal...and the millionaire he ‘disliked’ was the one who fired his attacker. He would never understand these people. ‘That’s why they’re criminals,’ he reminded himself, ‘if they snag human beings and sell them in groups to slavery, this was no big deal for them.’ Jared drove off wondering how these people existed alongside every day ‘normal’ ones. 

Jensen got up from the table and JD put a hand on his arm to get his attention, “Remember, control the reaction. You were scared for him, but he’s here now. Don’t take your fear out on the poor kid.” Morgan waited a few seconds for Jensen to take a deep breath. He nodded, knowing Morgan had been right. Jensen was full of tension and stress at what could have happened, and letting that influence his mood wasn’t okay. Jared was innocently coming through the door.


	17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some angsty moments here, some humor, tender moments between the lovers and very passionate sex. This takes up with Jared arriving late, then having a great time meeting some of Jensen’s and JD’s most trusted coworkers. The evening turns out to be just what Jared needed after that shitty encounter with his boss. Things are looking better until Jensen discovers something ugly...and then something uglier.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

Jared came flying into the restaurant door, knowing he was late. ‘Dammit,’ he hated to worry Jensen. He left the suit jacket in the car, but was still loosening the tie when he walked in. Jensen greeted him with an immediate warm hug in the foyer, sliding his arms around Jared’s shoulders and pulling his face into his neck. Jensen hadn’t said anything yet. 

When Jared saw him coming, he immediately began rambling off apologies, and something about bosses and crazy conversations, but Jensen simply pulled him into the hug. He took a moment to breathe in the remnants of Jared’s morning shampoo and leftover shaving cream. He closed his eyes and thanked the stars that the beautiful accountant was here and in one piece. 

After kissing the younger man’s neck, Jensen backed up and held onto the accountant’s shoulders while searching his eyes. “I’m late,” Jared said, guilt ridden angst showing in his beautiful stressed out face. “I noticed,” Jensen answered, smoothing Jared’s hair back, “are you alright?” Jared inhaled, glancing to the side as if he had to think about that first, but then he blew it out and nodded, “Yeah.” 

Jensen held onto him and waited for Jared to elaborate on that response, but for now the accountant met his eyes and tried to look reassuring, “I’m okay. I was just delayed. I’m so sorry.” Jensen soothed him, “Hey...you’re safe. That’s what matters...and you don’t need to be sorry. Are you gonna tell me what happened?” Jared begged with the powerful puppy dog eyes, “Can I tell you later? I’m so fucking starving, Jen, there was nothing in my little fridge but protein shakes and,” 

Jensen pulled the younger man’s hand, interrupting him with a grin, “Come on. We’ll fix that quick. The guys ordered everything on the fucking planet.” He led Jared to the two back tables that had been scooted together to give the cops a view of the entire restaurant. It was comfortable, private, and spacey enough for them to spread out. 

Jared had never eaten with a bunch of cops before. A few of them had bulges from their weapons either strapped under their arms, or hanging lower on their hips. He noticed it when they all half stood to shake his hand with friendly greetings. One of thanked him for showing up with a roll of his eyes, adding that he thought they were going to have to tranquilize Jensen. 

Jared giggled, but glanced over at Jensen with renewed guilt. His eyes spoke the ‘I’m sorry’ all over again, but Jensen rubbed his hand on Jared’s back, “It’s fine. He’s lying.” Jared turned back to the table, as Morgan got his attention, “Uh no, he’s not.” Everyone laughed out loud, while Jensen rolled his eyes. He waited for Jared to sit, then waved over their waitress. 

Jensen leaned down with hands on Jared’s shoulders from behind, “What’ll you have to drink? Don’t worry about leaded stuff, nobody’s driving outta here that can’t. That includes you.” Jared’s eyes flicked to the three cops who were wearing guns, but he noticed they had what looked like one discarded beer bottle for each, and fresh soda. The rest of them had mixed drinks and waters in more abundance. 

This was a controlled group, obviously, with the decision on who would be weapon bearing and having only one drink, in advance. Jared immediately started to relax. He glanced back at his lover, “Maybe a beer.” Jensen relayed to the waitress and pointed to Jared’s head, “Beer for this one...and make it an expensive one...he likes light but make it expensive as hell.” 

Everyone laughed as the waitress left with a knowing smile to get Jared’s drink. Jensen sat down next to Jared, a bit kiddie korner so he, too, was able to view the front door. He looked at Jared knowingly, “JD’s paying tonight. He thinks we wanna hear about his big bust today, but we’re really just ordering the shit out of everything and spending his money, pretending to like him.” 

Laughter ensued once again and Jared joined in. He glanced at JD Morgan, who was shaking his head but laughing just as hard. The older man whined to Jared, “See how they are? They’re all fuckers Jared,” to which everyone laughed again. As Jared was was sipping his beer, the rendition of today’s arrest began. Sporadic outbursts came from everyone in the group, as Morgan tried to recite, for Jared, how they cleaned up the streets of fourteen felons who were stealing cars and taking them apart, piecing them out and reselling them. 

“So, you see, I’m the good guy here, Jared, because...none of these other motherfuckers even ‘knew’ where that main hub was until ‘my’ experience and brains figured it out.” JD ignored the outburst from the group, “That must come from all the grey hair!” Giggles accompanied the comment, causing Jared to smirk.  
JD kept talking without a sideways glance, “I organized the team and lined up everything perfectly for them. They get the marks on their stats and everybody wins. But really Jared,” JD tipped his beer toward the accountant, now showing his full on buzz from this evening’s drinks, “really, it’s about the citizens and how I did something amazing today. I saved them and that’s what I do.” 

“Yeah...once a year!” Someone yelled that out and Jared barked out laughing. He’d been smirking through JD’s whole story, trying to follow along as the tipsy older sergeant defended his importance to the world. 

While the stories and banter continued, Jared gorged himself on the nacho’s and street fries that appeared before him. He never tasted anything this good in his life. ‘Jesusfuckingchrist,’ he thought, as he dug into the piles of cheeses, onions and chips that were covered with barbecue tri-tip burnt ends. Jared thought he’d never have anything this good ever again. Fuck, these people knew good food. 

By eight thirty, everyone had pushed dirty plates aside and started ordering waters. Jared was so comfortable, he hadn’t even realized he’d had two beers in mixed company without even a second thought. Obviously, he ‘could’ relax and not worry with the right people. Jensen noticed, of course. He was proud of his friends for welcoming Jared into the group and treating him like one of the guys. Jared ate well, drank comfortably, and enjoyed himself wholeheartedly...and it showed. 

Somewhere in the last two hours, the guys at the table had managed to screen Jared’s fitness level and determine that he ‘had’ to agree to be their secret weapon in an upcoming sort of Tough Mudder type event. Jared was excited because he’d done runs and obstacle courses before, back in New York. “Sure, I’ll do it,” the younger man shrugged, not thinking anything of it, but Jensen’s concern sparked the next part of the discussion. 

“You guys better run interference,” he stressed to all of them, “That competitive bullshit stays clear of him, if you’re serious about his.” All the men agreed, instantly, “Fuck yes,” “Of course,” then the one named Scott looked seriously at Jared, “We’ll keep you between us, kid.” Another officer spit unceremoniously in disbelief, “Like you’ll be able to keep up with him, Johnson.” He turned to Jared, “Maples and Bronwick are a better bet to keep you between them, kid, they run marathons.”

Jared nodded, smiling sideways with feigned understanding, but he really had no idea what they were talking about. It sounded fun, but he didn’t quite get what Jensen was worried about. Jensen turned to him to explain, “It’s a charity event, but it’s between precincts. There are about ten teams and each one tries to upscale the other with so called secret weapons. Some teams are all cops, some have a few family members, or spouses, maybe a couple other first responder types mixed in there. A few of the teams have become so competitive, they suck these people in who they deem to be unbeatable. You’ve now become ‘our’ secret weapon, so that means the other teams will be jealous as hell and try to take you out first.” 

Jared looked instantly alarmed, “Take me out?” Jensen shook his head, “I don’t mean injure you, but they’ll walk by and say intimidating things...try to throw you off your mental game...stupid juvenile shit, that’s what. They try it every time and sometimes it’s effective.” Scott piped in, from across the table, “Yeah, it’s embarrassing to call them fellow cops when you see what babies they are, but unfortunately some of them can’t handle competition very well.” 

Rob, at the end of the table, piped in, “You should have seen them at the paintball games!” Everyone hummed in agreement as they nodded, remembering. Jared was beginning to get the picture now. He’d dealt with competition in everything he did...skiing, pool, even chess. Jared played softball for awhile on a supposed ‘D’ league team but the sandbaggers had come along and ruined the experience. It wasn’t as fun when people lost their tempers.

Morgan further explained, “Jared, they get especially unpleasant when they’re losing. They don’t outright cheat enough to be eliminated, but it’s enough of an annoyance to piss everybody off. Jensen’s right. These bozo’s gotta protect you out there once the other teams find out who you are and know you’re going to kick their asses.” 

Jensen grinned at his lover’s face, as Jared finally realized the whole picture like a light bulb turning on, but Jensen added his two cents worth, “Don’t worry. These assholes wouldn’t dare let anyone get to you out there.” Jensen’s eyes moved to the other men and changed to include a silent threat about what would happen to them if they didn’t protect Jared, “Right?” 

“Fucking chill, Ackles, we’ve got him,” someone responded. Jensen smirked, and sipped his water casually. Another officer added, “Yeah, he’s our secret weapon. He runs more than any of us do so when we’re stuck on the wall or sergeant Geriatric over there pulls a groin on the rubber tires, Jared’s gonna be the one to save our asses.” 

Everyone laughed, then lifted water glasses for a toast, as Morgan yelled out a ‘fuck you sissies’ at the Geriatric insult. They toasted to their new event team, complete with secret weapon. Jared giggled as the banter changed direction toward more tales of bloopers on calls and operations. Jensen loved the sparkle in Jared’s eyes as he followed the stories and laughed along with everyone at the table. 

Apparently, Jensen had sprained his ankle jumping over a rose bush planter because one of the other detectives named ‘Chuck’, otherwise known as ‘Prick’ to Jensen, told him it was solid on the other side. Jensen jumped and landed in crumbling rocks which twisted the joint. “You cost me four weeks on crutches, you suck hole,” Jensen bitched, while the other man argued, “Well you didn’t have to listen to me. It was the perfect distraction, though. You landing with your feet in the air was all the bad guys were looking at when I managed to get behind ‘em and take ‘em down!” 

The group laughed loud, as they pictured it. “I’m telling you,” Chuck continued, “he’s good at it. You guys should really use him in all your operations.” Jensen shook his head, in between laughing at himself. The group kept going through a few more stores until Rob held a finger up for attention, “Wait! I forgot to tell the rest of you about the balloons!” Everyone looked at him, but Morgan piped in, “Some of our fourteen auto thefts were ad booked for cocaine balloons found during a strip search.” 

The group cheered and toasted again with some kind of unspoken understanding that Jared was clueless about. Jensen touched him on the back, “Balloons are something arrestees hide drugs in. They know they’re caught so they try and shove ‘em up there pretty far sometimes. The jails find them during dress-in and it gets added on to their felonies.” 

Jared stared opened mouth for a minute, his mind attempting to process that ‘shoving up’ comment when someone in the group from across the table yelled out, “And ‘that’s’ why he’s still single, Jared. He tells his date about rubber balloons filled with drugs shoved up vaginas and asses!” The group of cops barked out laughing, Jensen giggling along with them while looking at Jared. “I’m sorry,” he said, “it’s not a very pleasant topic.” 

Jared smirked, “No, I guess not,” still getting over the shock of what he had just learned. His mind had trouble accepting it. Jared sipped his water again, hoping to wash away the unpleasant visual he had gotten, but before the conversation moved on, he perked up as his curious mind thought of something, “Wait, how do to they get it out?” 

The table went silent. Everybody looked at him, shocked they hadn’t grossed him out and scared him off yet, but unsure if they should answer or let Jensen do that. Jared thought maybe they hadn’t heard him, “The balloons...how do they get ‘em out?” He looked between the men, but it was Morgan who decided to save Jensen this one, “With their fingers, or sometimes a coat hanger or a hook.” 

Everyone watched Jared’s reaction, as the kid’s lips turned up in distaste. “Some have their cellmates dig it out and then they share it,” Morgan continued. Jared’s mouth dropped open again, while everyone laughed. “That’s disgusting,” the accountant’s reaction was priceless and it set everyone off for another round of laughs. Jensen knew they were all taken in by Jared’s innocent charm. His lover was adorable and he could see everyone at the table had taking a liking to him right away. 

Jensen finally added to the explanation, “If they ‘can’t’ get it out, then the medical staff has to. Usually, they’ll wind up confessing they have one because if it’s left in there too long and it leaks or dissolves, it’ll kill ‘em. It’s too much of a dose.” Jared stared at the older man for a minute, absorbing that. Geez, it was hard to picture anyone that desperate, but Jared supposed it was like his bosses...someone operating on a wave length totally different from his own. 

One of the officers, Rob, leaned forward, “Ackles,” he spoke to Jensen, even though he was studying Jared, “Ackles, where have I seen this guy? Why do I think I’ve seen him before?” Jensen grinned, knowing damn well Jared was innocently clueless and not expecting to be recognized. “Probably from his book,” Jensen responded. He’d said it casually, but with pride in his voice.

Jared had glanced at Jensen with a bit of alarm, then his eyes darted between the men, as he realized that his fucking blown up picture on that damn hard cover was going to be the death of him. His publisher was on his shit list for this. “That’s it!” Rob finally got it, “I knew I’d seen him somewhere!” Another one of the group barked out and within seconds, Jared was reluctantly explaining how long it had taken him to write such a book and what it was like to get published, how he’d learned all that shit and where he’d come from. 

One of the other sergeants named Pete stopped everyone and looked closely at Jared, “Answer me this, Jared. You’re smart, educated, fit and successful. What the fuck are you with ‘this’ guy for?” Everyone barked out laughing, even Jensen as he shook his head. Rob piped in, “He feels sorry for you, Ackles, and your fucked up finances.” More laughter ensued. 

Jared could tell Pete hadn’t expected an answer, it was just part of their banter. After they laughed for a few seconds, Jared received many playful ‘thank you’s’ and ‘we’re so glad he found you’s’ along with their happiness that Jensen was always in a better mood now. Apparently, he’d been more short fused and negative before Jared came along. Jensen denied this. 

The conversation turned to how unsuccessful most cops were at finances and investments. “Let’s not forget the zillion divorces where we don’t change the spouses information to the ‘current’ one.” Jared looked at the man, Rob, confused, so he quickly explained, “It’s a fact. Cops get divorced...a LOT. Comes with the job, Jared, and too many funerals have the Chaplains running between exes and relatives, trying to sort out the beneficiaries because the dumb ass dead cop didn’t take care of things when he was alive. We’re terrible at it.” 

Morgan argued, “Mary says that’s because we’re ‘men’, not because we’re cops.” The arguments and comparisons ensued for another round of examples and situations being discussed, as Jared began to realize these guys were too busy being called to work during their off time, working overtime, and dealing with their psyche’s about things they saw and handled. 

“I would love to help you,” Jared announced. The cops all fell silent for a second, while Jensen grinned at the hopeful surprised look coming from the table. Jared’s eyes darted between the men and Jensen, not sure of how accepted he was just yet. “I mean,” he shrugged, “it’s kind of my thing.” Jensen stared at Jared a moment, before he glanced at the group to gauge their reaction. 

JD was the first to speak, “I’m only on chapter three of the book and I’ve already changed my retirement funds to more aggressive ones, redirected my deferred comp to a Scubda fund and I’ve changed my withholdings.” Jared smiled, as JD turned to the rest of the men, “Buy the book, fellas, or better yet I’ll buy it for you. Jensen bought me mine and it’s fucking golden!” 

Some of the officers were stewing, adjusting in their seats and grumbling about having to actually ‘read’ anything, but Morgan lectured them, “Hey. I was the same way...but I’m telling you fuck holes, once you open it, you won’t put it down.” Morgan leaned back in his chair, “Thanks to Jared, I’ll be able to afford all the corn removals and beta blockers I need, in addition to canes and wheelchairs, a timeshare with orthopedic friendly rooms in every place I want and maybe a hair dye a week...and ‘maybe’...just ‘maybe’ I’ll host a monthly barbecue for all you motherfuckers who aren’t retired yet.” 

Everyone laughed, including Jared. JD was priceless...Jared thought it was so nice of him to compliment his book. The bond between these men was contagious. He felt the tiredness catching up to him from the long day, but tonight had been perfect. After a few minutes, Jensen rubbed his hand on Jared’s back, coaxing him to look at him, “You ready to head home?” 

Jared nodded with a smile, feeling happy and very lucky that he got to share this time with Jensen’s most trusted. They were warm and friendly, very funny and most of all Jared knew they took care of each other. After the group exchanged ‘good night’s’ and thanked Jared several times for putting up with them, he received all kinds of plea’s for private consults on personal investments and taxes. Jensen finally chased them all off with the complaint that they were going to steal all of the beautiful genius’ time and leave him with nothing to do. 

The cops all went to their cars, some took a moment to adjust their weapons and looked around before getting into their vehicles. Jared realized they were all glancing at each other...watching their surroundings. What it must be like to know there were ambushes out there, enemies who were irrational and bold enough to shoot at them, kill them. Jared couldn’t imagine the stress of knowing any one of them could go at any minute from some call gone bad, or some vengeful homicidal citizen catching them on their time off.

Jensen slid a hand around Jared’s waist, noticing he was lost in thought after opening the door of his SUV. “You okay?” Jared turned to him with a shy smile. “Yeah,” he nodded, staring into Jensen’s eyes with with love and adoration. “I love you,” Jared said. 

Jensen kissed him softly on the lips, then responded, “I love you, too.” Jared said, “Thank you for this, Jensen. They’re incredible and it was a blast getting to know them.”  
Jensen lifted his other hand and gently brushed the hair out of Jared’s eyes, “Of course, Jare. Having you along made it ten times more fun...and they love you already. I’ll have to fight them off you now, though, trying to keep you to myself.” 

They smiled at each other, then Jared turned more serious, “Tallahassee’s tomorrow. Nine thirty flight.” Jensen’s face immediately turned sour, “Well, that’s just fucking lovely.” Jared placed his hands on either side of Jensen’s face, “I know it sucks, I do.” Jared searched the older man’s eyes and saw the blatant concern there, “Jensen, it’s okay. I’m not going on any more. This is the last one.”

Jensen’s eyes turned more intent. At first, he was sure he had heard that wrong. He tilted his head slightly, almost afraid to give in to the hope he was feeling, “What about Ottawa?” Jared sighed, thinking about his encounter with Murray, “I’ve been busting my ass to be the good employee...I thought it mattered, but it isn’t worth anything to them so I’m not going to do it anymore. I’m out, Jensen. Tomorrow’s it...just as soon as I train the new guy.” 

Jensen studied him for a few seconds, while Jared offered a half smile of resigned acceptance. The detective sergeant knew this man, however. He was overjoyed to hear about this second trip, but he also knew something must have happened for Jared to give up his quest of being employee of the decade. Something wasn’t quite sitting well, “Why were you late?” 

Jared looked instantly reluctant, because he really didn’t want to get into this with Jensen. The older man had already been stressed enough about this whole situation. When Jared hesitated, Jensen pushed, “Jared.” Jared looked up with worry in his eyes. He figured Jensen wasn’t going to let this go, so he started to explain, “Murray was out in the parking lot. I listened, thinking at first, he was trying to apologize for Reiner’s actions.” 

Jared hesitated for a few seconds, until Jensen verbally nudged him to continue, “And?” Jared sighed, “Jensen, he was just being a dick about it, and that’s it.” Jensen peered closer into the accountant’s eyes, “No...that’s not it.” He touched Jared on his sleeve, “What did he tell you?” 

Jared felt ashamed for ever believing Murray was the nice one...he felt embarrassed for thinking they would surely back him up and never let Reiner back in the office. His hesitation wasn’t doing any favors for Jensen’s rising protectiveness. “Jared,” Jensen nudged him to continued. 

The accountant’s reluctance to admit Murray’s attitude was obvious. He looked down and sighed, then back up at Jensen, “He told me he took Reiner back. After he got arrested the first time, he said he needed him for a couple transactions that only he could do. He couldn’t let him go, so he was gonna keep him on and just keep us apart.” 

Jensen stiffened, “You’re fucking shitting me...and make you work with him?” Jared nodded, “Apparently.” He suddenly looked more hopeful, “But...I guess Barron didn’t agree with him and fired Reiner on the spot.” Jensen raised an eyebrow. Jared snickered mockingly, “I know, right? That’s why he was so pissed when he attacked me.”

Jensen touched the younger man’s cheek, his eyes filled with concern, “You’ve been keeping this all night. Baby, why didn’t you say something?” Jared responded, “I just wanted to forget it for a little while. Tonight was just what I needed. It was so much fun, it was perfect...and after tomorrow, they’re gone.” 

Jensen rubbed Jared’s arm and assessed him for a minute. Jared smiled softly, “It’s okay. Really. Getting home to you fixes everything.” Jensen searched his lover’s eyes for a moment before starting to relax, then Jared thought of something he’d forgotten, “They had a big argument today. I hate to admit it, but it felt damn good to see them upset.” 

“Do you know what it was about?” Jensen wondered if the crooked millionaire’s were beginning to fall apart as partners. In his line of work, he’d learned that bad guys tended to screw each other over all the time. Jared shook his head, “No, but it was loud. The whole office heard it.” Jensen stewed over that for a few seconds, “So, what is Murray going to do, since he can’t take Reiner tomorrow?” 

Jared answered, “It sounded like Ottawa was where Reiner’s deals were, not Tallahassee. There’s something big in Ottawa that he used to do for him. Tomorrow is more common ground and he didn’t seem worried about it...Tallahassee’s where I corrected most of Reiner’s stupid mistakes from, too, the last time...like Reiner didn’t even give much of a shit about it.” 

Jensen thought this over. The only possible reason his brain could come up with was that Murray and Reiner had some deals Barron wasn’t aware of. It’s possible Murray didn’t want anyone else working on them for that reason. Jensen focused on Jared, “The Tallahassee trip tomorrow...don’t say a word about not going to Ottawa, okay? When you’re safe at home, you can notify them that you’re not coming back, but not until then. Let’s not risk your safety by rocking the boat until you’re away from them.”

Jared nodded, “Okay.” Jensen visibly relaxed. He silently celebrated that his lover was getting out of there, but thoughts of twisting Chase Murray up in a few different painful arrest control techniques sounded really satisfying right now. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. 

Jensen touched his fingertips lightly on Jared’s cheek, “I’m glad you’re getting out of there, but I’ll hold off celebrating until you’re back tomorrow night.” Jared smiled softly, “I know, me too.” They kissed lightly for a few seconds. When Jensen pulled back, he saw a beautiful sparkle in Jared’s eyes, along with some quite distracting darkened pupils. Jared cleared his throat, “Its been a weird shitty day. I was tired and starving when I got here, but now...” 

Jensen’s body stirred, as Jared seemed to be communicating some silent need that spoke to him. “And now?” Jensen’s question was almost a growl. Jared felt the sexual tension skyrocket between then, “Now, I feel like I definitely need to burn up some pent up energy.” He pulled Jensen’s head to him and kissed the cop with burning need. Jensen pushed against him, trapping Jared against the car and himself. He was already hard. When Jared pulled back, he breathed hot invitation over Jensen’s wet swollen lips, “Can you come to my place? Now?” 

Jensen growled as his body reacted to Jared. “If I can make it there. Right now, I’m picturing several different ways to help you burn off that energy.” An annoying gruff voice yelled out from across the parking lot, “Get a room, for chrissakes!” Jensen sighed, never looking away from his beautiful partner, but both men smirked from hearing JD’s voice. 

Jared kissed him quick and got in the car with an embarrassed grin. JD was just pulling out of the parking lot with a double honk. Jensen shut the door for Jared, then hurried to his truck to follow him. When they got to Jared’s townhouse, Jensen waited for him to pull into the garage, first, then parked in the driveway behind him. 

Jared unloaded his car and turned to find Jensen had silently come up behind him. The older man took Jared’s laptop bag and suit jacket for him, then followed the accountant into the house through the garage. Jensen put Jared’s things on the dining table, while Jared turned back to push the garage door button. 

As the door rolled down, Jensen glanced that way and noticed a maroon sedan parked across the street. It didn’t look occupied, so he dismissed it, for now. It wasn’t normally there, but it could be someone visiting any of Jared’s neighbors. Jensen stood poised, as Jared put his keys on the table and picked up his tie and suit jacket. He grabbed a couple water bottles from the refrigerator, giving Jensen a beautiful view of his ass in those dress pants. 

Jensen’s dick was already hard and he wondered if his cute accountant was being a little coy and flirtatious, making him wait a little on purpose. Jared wasn’t a deliberate tease, but right now Jensen sensed a bit of a playful mood coming from his numbers expert. He followed Jared down the short hallway, stopping within inches of him when the younger man placed the water bottles on the dryer and took a minute to pull the dress shirt off and put it in the washer. 

He followed that with his undershirt. When Jared stepped out of his dress shoes, he pushed them aside with his feet and started to unbuckle his belt. From behind him, Jared felt the hot breath of his lover as he came up flush behind him and placed his hands on top of Jared’s. “Stop,” Jensen ordered, breathing into Jared’s ear. He grazed his lips along the skin there. 

Jared froze, his nipples hardened and his breathing increased. “Let me,” Jensen’s command sent Jared’s heart rate into overdrive as Jensen took over unbuckling the belt and slid it from Jared’s waist. Jensen pulled down Jared’s zipper slowly, barely swiping his tongue over the younger man’s ear at the same time. He had definitely gotten the message about what his lover’s needs were tonight. Jensen could feel Jared’s pulse racing.

The accountant’s sharp inhale, complete with the hardness Jensen felt rising underneath the zipper told him this was having exactly the effect he was hoping for. “What do you want,” Jensen spoke into Jared’s ear, swiping his tongue across it, “do you want me to fuck you?” Jared’s breathing increased. ‘Jesus.’ He nodded without pause, “Yes,” barely able to think, “god yes, please.” 

Jared hoped he didn’t sound desperate, but right now he had no boundaries. Something about the frustration of today’s events, then the trip coming, and Jensen’s worry about him being late. Jared’s libido screamed for Jensen to take control and the cop seemed to understand that. 

Jensen’s hands slid inside the dress pants, starting to push them down while stopping to rub the impressive hardening cock through Jared’s underwear. “Mmmm,” Jensen kissed his neck and moaned appreciatively, as Jared dropped his head back on the older man’s shoulder with a soft cry of pleasure. 

Jensen pushed the pants and underwear all of the way down until he encouraged Jared to grab onto his shoulder with his left hand and step out of them. Jensen put the items into the wash, then took a few minutes to admire the gorgeous naked body in front of him. Jared was still facing away from him. He smoothed his hands all over Jared’s arms and back, over his hip bones and down his thighs. 

Jared closed his eyes and breathed heavily with anticipation. Jensen ran his hands back up the inside of Jared’s legs, until he reached the top of the lean sculpted thigh muscles. Jensen’s left arm came around Jared’s waist and held him snug, while his right hand stayed just below Jared’s balls. They were heavy and full, practically begging to be touched. 

Jared’s breathing went wild, his mouth opened and his eyes rolled back with a loud cry of ecstasy, as Jensen grazed the sensitive sack with his fingers. Jensen kissed a hot open mouthed wet trail from Jared’s shoulder up to his ear. The accountant leaned his head away, granting Jensen all the access he needed. Jensen’s hot tongue invaded his ear, causing Jared to practically growl with need. His body undulated sinuously against the rough denim and cotton shirts Jensen wore. 

The reaction was hot as fuck. Jensen loved doing this to Jared. He moved his hand up further and gently kneaded the stretched ball sack, rubbed and massaged gently until Jared was writhing with loud cries and gasps of rapture. The sounds were intoxicating. Jared was way past turned on. Jensen held his hand still and felt the balls stirring inside. They were churning and pulsing, ready for the slightest stimulation to encourage them to empty.

Jensen moved his thumb back to the smooth space just behind Jared’s balls and pushed it into the perineum. When he started to rub that with pressure, at the same time he still massaged Jared’s balls, the kid broke loose. “Aaah,” Jared cried out. He was beyond thought now. Jensen’s hand was driving him wild and what he was doing felt so goddamn good.

Jared was so fucking hot, Jensen wasn’t entirely confident he could keep himself from climaxing while doing this. Christ, this was fucking insane. He felt the younger man’s tension building, his gyrating motions meeting the friction of Jensen’s hand. Christ, this kid was going to come like this. Jensen spoke into Jared’s ear, giving him a soft command in hopes the accountant would trust him enough to comply. 

“Put your feet up on the machines,” he ordered, providing his supportive strength as he guided Jared to turn fully toward the washer and dryer. Jared lifted his feet to comply, with Jensen still leaving his hands where they were. Jared’s feet landed, one on each machine, his weight held fast by Jensen’s muscular arm. Jared was completely suspended and at Jensen’s mercy, with his legs more open. It felt amazing and terrifying. 

“Jensen,” Jared cried out, so turned on he was already bucking his hips and searching for friction. He felt so open, so wanton like this...not to mention he was the only naked one in the room. “Jensen, oh god,” Jared was almost coming now. He grabbed the sliding doors on either side of the small laundry closet with white knuckled grips. Jensen stuck his hot tongue in his ear, then spoke low and guttural into it, “I want you to come like this, Jare. You’re too fucking hot to wait. Just let it come, baby, and after this, I’m gonna fuck you hard.” 

Jensen began his right hand’s ministrations again, only to skyrocket Jared’s body into orbit. “Aaaah,” Jared didn’t any time to think. All he could do was feel. “Aaaah,” he was practically screaming as he couldn’t believe his body was approaching orgasm like this. He’d never experienced this before. “Oh fuck, Jensen, I’m coming!” Jensen held him impossibly tight and spoke into his ear, “That’s it. Come for me, Jare.” 

He felt the younger man tightening up with tension, clenching every muscle as he reached the edge. “That’s it,” Jensen kept encouraging him into his ear, “That’s it, I’ve got you, baby, come!” “Aaaaah god!” Jared screamed his last warning, then tightened up and came hard, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh,” he jerked powerful spasms, spurting his load all over the machines, as Jensen held on tight. He wasn’t going to let Jared fall through this powerful experience. 

“Aaaaaaah....Uuuuggghh...uuuuuhhfuck,” The younger man cried out over and over, pulsating with orgasmic pleasure and completely abandoned to Jensen’s control. He was unable to comprehend anything around him, while Jensen kept up his massage of the beautiful emptying sacks. He kissed Jared next to his ear, on his neck, and on the side of his jaw, as the younger man continued to spasm and grunt through gentling aftershocks rolling through his system. 

Jared’s moans quieted. He was gradually reduced to a trembling mass of endorphins on overload. ‘Ohmygod,’ Jared’s mind scrambled. ‘Jesuschrist,’ was Jensen still holding him up? Jared couldn’t address it right now, as he was slowly lowered back down to earth in Jensen’s arms. He realized his limbs were like jelly and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. God, that had felt amazing. 

Jared continued to breathe, sucking in oxygen and laying back against Jensen with his eyes closed in heavenly bliss. How the hell he was ever going to move, he had no idea. Thank god Jensen was strong enough to hold him up. Jensen kept up the onslaught of light tasting of Jared’s skin, holding him securely now with both arms. Jared was still laying back against him.

“Mmmm...” Jensen kept up the kisses, “that was absolutely beautiful.” Jared felt the man’s warmth, the muscular chest against his back, the muscular arms around his waist and the roughness of Jensen’s clothing against his naked skin. God, the man was fucking sexy. Jensen had made him come like a freight train without even touching his dick. 

Jared finally managed to raise his left arm and slid his hand around the back of Jensen’s neck. He rested his right hand on Jensen’s arms. Jared lowered his shaky limbs to put his feet back on the floor, then turned his head and found himself melting into Jensen’s luscious lips and hot mouth that were waiting for him. The two men opened wide and kissed lovingly for several minutes.

As the lovers pulled back from each other, Jensen asked the soft question, “Can you stand?” He could feel Jared’s body still thrumming. Jared snickered softly at himself, “I think so.” Jensen released his tight hold, gradually letting Jared take his own weight. 

The younger man turned in his arms, took Jensen’s waistband in his left hand and started walking backward while pulling him into the master bedroom. Jensen held Jared’s gaze, as he let himself be pulled to stand in front of Jared’s bed. Jared began to undress him. When he got Jensen’s belt and jeans opened he pushed them down until Jensen’s hand stopped him long enough to remove the gun from the holster that was attached to his belt. He put it on the nightstand without looking. 

Jared continued removing Jensen’s jeans and tossed them on the chair. He pushed Jensen’s long sleeve shirt off his shoulders, which was really ‘his’ shirt, then placed it on the same chair. He pulled the undershirt up, which was also his. Jared grinned as he realized he’d practically dressed all of Jensen today. 

When he looked down, he was also reminded that the underwear was his. “You admiring my clothing?” Jensen’s grumbled question was delivered with a smirk. Jensen knew damn well what Jared was thinking. Jared’s soft giggle confirmed it, anyway. He removed the underwear, pushing them down until his lover stepped out of them. He slid his hands up Jensen’s legs, over the soft hairs of his shins, the smooth bulging thigh muscles, and the lean hips and abdomen. 

Jared admired the gorgeous full cock that was ready, rock hard and pointing upward. There was an abundance of pre-come dripping down the sides of the chiseled head and shaft. He wanted so badly to play with it, taste it all and suck it hard...but Jensen wasn’t in any condition to wait. 

Jared smoothed his hands up Jensen’s chest and over the man’s shoulders as he met his eyes. Jensen’s intense green eyes were dark with hunger. He was barely holding it together. Jared felt the stirrings of interest renewed from his spent balls and dick. They quickly started to fill again, as his breathing increased. Jared’s eyes flickered down to indicate Jensen’s impressive endowment and within a fraction of a second, he found himself lifted off his feet and dropped onto the bed. 

Gasping with turned on surprise, his mind reeled to catch up with Jensen’s ability to do that. The detective’s piercing green eyes were locked onto Jared’s with intensity, looking right through him from his position on top. The accountant felt like an open book. “Holy f-,” Jared’s expletive was cut short by Jensen’s question, “You want me to fuck you? Hard?” 

Jared’s eager response was fueled by his legs coming up to either side of Jensen’s hips, “God yes. I want to feel you tomorrow when I’m with those assholes. Fuck me, Jensen.” Jensen growled, though his eyes spoke a bit of concern. Hurting Jared wasn’t really in the cards, but he understood what the younger meant. Jensen grabbed the lube from the nightstand drawer, then lifted Jared’s bent legs even higher to open his target wide. 

“Fuckingchrist,” Jensen fixated on the pink hole for a second, his dick remembering how tight it was. He really ‘really’ wasn’t going to be able to wait long. He began prepping his lover, carefully getting Jared used to one finger at a time. Jared’s responsive nature wasn’t helping him wait. Fuck, his numbers genius was getting hard again, pushing his hips back and trying to fuck himself on Jensen’s fingers. His arms went wide and pushed into the pillows on either side of his head. 

Jared’s eyes were closed, his head moved lithely back and forth. His mouth hung open to breathe and he groaned out the most delicious sounds. Jensen had to stave off coming just from the sight. He finally lined up his leaking dick, feeling Jared had been safely prepped. The angry red color of Jensen’s dick spoke volumes about having to wait. Jensen squirt extra lube on himself, and started to push in. 

Jared lifted his head. “Oh fuck yes,” he cried out, “fuck yes,” as Jensen’s head pushed in and stretched his opening. When he breached the first ring, his mushroom head popped inside and both men cried out in absolute pleasure. Jensen paused only a few seconds and then pushed in further. He grunted with the pressure, fighting himself to hold back and not ram it in. 

Jared breathed through the invasion, moaning at the incredible sensation of being filled, then he dropped his head back on the pillow. His eyes were closed, face flushed, as Jensen pushed in until he was finally most of the way in. “Mmmmgod...fuck,” Jensen tried to breathe himself away from blowing his load. It was tight. God it was tight, and watching Jared’s reaction was not helping him go slow. 

“God Jare, you look so fucking good like that. Jesuschrist, you feel so fucking good,” Jensen rambled. Jared brought his knees up higher and surrounded Jensen with his arms and legs, “Fuck me, Jensen. Now. Fuck me hard.” Jensen slid backward a few inches and slammed it back in, as both men cried out in unison. Christ, this was gonna be quick, Jensen was thinking. 

Jensen moved in and out slowly. “Mmmm...mmmm,” he grunted in pleasure with each thrust. The sensation was overwhelming. Jared moaned and writhed, crying out beautifully with pleasure filled responses to every movement. Christ he was going to come pretty quick. Jensen leaned over Jared and kissed him, “You’re so fucking beautiful.” He braced himself on his elbows and met Jared’s eyes. 

“The gorgeous flushed face was loving this. His eyes were filled with need for as much Jensen could give him. Jensen adjusted just a bit to hit that sensitive gland full on and watched Jared cry out with ecstasy. Jensen kept thrusting. He kissed his lover with sweet tenderness before he backed off and widened his knees. He began to fuck Jared hard and fast. 

Jared’s hearty cries came from somewhere deep, as Jensen plowed into him. Jared screamed in pleasure. Jensen pounded into his prostate hard and fast until their loud cries became screams of approaching orgasms. “FUCK,” Jensen shouted, “FUCK,” he shouted again and fucked his lover even faster. Jared tightened so hard around him, Jensen forced himself in with a loud cry of warning, “JARED!” 

Two more thrusts and, “UUUUUUUUUGGHHHHHHHHHH,” Jensen came so hard he feared he would lose consciousness. Jared screamed his own pleasure, jerking and spasming underneath him, Jensen’s dick locked inside him like a vice. Jensen prayed he would survive this, as he body poured out its essence, pulsing into Jared with the most powerful climax he’d ever experienced. 

They groaned out loud, as the waves of pleasure kept rolling through them. Finally, their orgasmic aftershocks gentled into a sea of floating ecstasy. They moaned softly for a few more seconds, then fell silent until Jensen’s arms slid outward from his inability to hold himself up any longer.

Jared returned to awareness, but he didn’t immediately open his eyes. Jensen’s heat was keeping him warm and blocking out the cool air of the room. Jared moaned, then inhaled and noticed he couldn’t get very much air due to a heavy weight oppressing his lungs. ‘What the hell,’ his sluggish mind tried to recover, as he felt the heavy weight twitch on top of him and knew it was Jensen. 

Jared did a subtle recon of his body and felt Jensen’s softening dick still inside of him. He certainly had no complaints. ‘Goddamn, what a way to wake up,’ Jared thought to himself, as his hazy mind tried to catch up to how long they’d both been out. “Jensen,” Jared’s soft inquisitive voice somehow penetrated Jensen’s perfectly happy dream of floating on clouds. 

“Hmmm?” The sleepy deep baritone made Jared smile. He actually giggled, then, which made him giggle harder when he realized he couldn’t get enough air to really giggle all the way. Jared sounded in distress as he finally ran out of air and had to push up against the beautiful hunk of man who was laying on him. “J’n,” he only needed a few inches, if Jensen would just...Jared gasped, sucking in much needed oxygen as Jensen lifted up and looked down at him. 

“You okay?” Jensen stared at him with concerned confusion. Jared nodded, as he steadied his air flow and relaxed again, “You just passed out on me and I couldn’t breathe for a second.” Jensen looked terribly guilty, as he pulled himself out and adjusted to the side, only laying half over Jared. “M’sorry,” he kissed the younger man lightly, “I’ve never passed out like that. Are you alright?” 

Jared shook his head, his eyes filled with wondrous adoration, “God yes. I’m fucking incredible. You fried my brain, Jensen.” Jensen grinned adoringly at his cute accountant, then spent time indulging in some lazy open mouth kisses while he mumbled, “I think you fried every one of my circuits. M’brain’s just one of ‘em.” He felt the exhaustion setting in and wondered what time it was. 

Jensen pushed himself up a few inches over Jared to see the clock, then fell back down onto the pillows, his weak arms giving out. Jared smiled adoringly, “Did wear yourself out, Starsky?” Jensen grinned with his eyes closed, “Mmhm...but it wasn’t ‘me’ who wore me out, it was my hot accounting genius that did me in. Watch out for those numbers guys.” 

Jared’s giggle made the older man smile. He leaned closer to Jared’s face and kissed him on his cheekbone, nuzzling him a bit, “You tired?” Jared yawned and snuggled his face into Jensen’s, but then opened his eyes wide when he thought of something. “Ew,” Jared exclaimed, “we can’t fall asleep yet,” then rolled away from his lover and struggled three times before he finally stood up. 

Jensen put a hand out to steady him, “Careful there, young one, you came pretty hard too.” Jensen watched his lover make his way to the bathroom on very wobbly legs. ‘It’s true,’ Jared thought. He had never greyed out before. He rinsed a hand towel under the hot water for a moment, adding a little squirt of the mild gel soap he used.  
He made his way back to Jensen, feeling the impending soreness up inside of him make itself known. ‘That’s gonna hurt by tomorrow,’ Jared thought with a knowing grin. He wiped off the bits of come from Jensen’s stomach and chest, then did a gentle but thorough sponge bath of the man’s gorgeous dick and balls. Jensen moaned with his eyes closed. 

“Watch out, it’ll kick start again if you don’t stop that.” Jensen’s warning was made with his eyes still closed and a grin on his face. Jared grinned, studying Jensen’s anatomy lovingly, “Well, it’s happily at parade rest right now. I think it’s smiling though.” Jensen’s chest rumbled with his responding chuckle, “It’ll always smile at ‘you’, silly. It started to frown at me and my right hand after all the years without you.” 

Jared burst out laughing, totally caught off guard. Jensen had the pleasure of watching him in such a carefree moment. Jared kissed his lover, then made his way back to the bathroom. He rinsed the hot rag and did a quick cleaning of his own body’s remnants. When Jared returned to the bed, he was dogged tired and dragging. He set the alarm on his phone and slid under the covers to intertwine himself into Jensen’s blessed heat. 

Jared sighed a peaceful sound. His long shitty day had turned into an incredible evening, ending in Jensen’s arms. Jensen snuggled close to the beautiful numbers guru and fell asleep knowing they only had tomorrow to get through before Jared was out of that environment. He would be waiting on pins and needles until Jared was back safe. 

Just before falling asleep, Jensen’s eyes flickered to the sliding door. There were limbs moving outside from a light wind that had kicked up. He could see the shadows moving from the thin crack around Jared’s curtain. He thought about that maroon car and how he would definitely run it in the morning, if it was still there. 

Outside, a dark clad figure cursed in blessed relief as he stood up from his crouched position. His knees were killing him. The figure stretched and shook out his legs. He thought they’d never finish. “Like fucking animals,” he bitched under his breath. The figure climbed on top of the air conditioning unit that was inside the flower bed near the slider. He raised on his tip toes, peered through the crack and looked around. 

Over on one of the nightstands, he could make out the unmistakable shape of a gun. The weapon was out of it’s holster and pointing away from the two men in the bed. He was pretty knowledgable about weapons, but in order to place this one’s model and whether it was a police issued, or not, he would need to shine a light in there. Not wanting to do something that stupid, the dark clothed figure almost gave up, but then he spotted an item laying a few inches away from the weapon on the end of the nightstand. ‘A badge,’ he realized. ‘Well hallelujah.’

Proud of himself that he managed to succeed in his mission, the figure climbed down off the air unit and prowled his way silently across the small yard. He’d shined his light into the truck in the driveway earlier, trying to see if any marked papers or other identifiable objects were strewn about. Nothing was visible except a pair of RayBans on one of the visors. 

The man’s only mission tonight had been to identify who the Padalecki kid was seeing, and whether it was a cop. He had finally accomplished that. He stepped carefully, or so he thought, across the concrete patio, thinking of how he was sure to be promoted to more important jobs after this one. “Fuck!” The prowler cursed in a loud whisper, as he kicked over some kind of stainless steel food bowl that made an annoying ‘clang clang clang’. 

‘Dammit,’ the prowler thought as he froze, waiting to see if he’d caused the lovers to wake up. Those fuckers had been going at it for over an hour, causing him to skate around the other curtains, trying to see whatever items he could on the counters and furniture. Their love session started in the hallway and moved to the back bedroom. He couldn’t see shit in there, so he was forced to wait it out. 

He wasn’t gay, but ‘holy fuck’ these two were hot. He had a raging hard on by the time they finally finished. If they hadn’t fallen asleep and decided on going another round, the man knew he’d have to rub one out in the bushes. After pausing a couple minutes, he realized it was safe to get moving and made his way to the side gate. He quietly pushed the latch up and exited the yard, but not before he turned back to pull the gate closed. He thought it was secure, so he continued back to his car and got the hell out of there. 

The prowler didn’t think the fucking cop got his license plate, but he didn’t give a shit. The car wasn’t his, anyway, it came with the job. He drove to a gas station, a few miles from the neighborhood and parked it. He got out and waited two minutes for another car to pick him up. Once inside the back seat of a large black town car, he retold his findings to the neatly dressed man in the shadows, who sat across from him. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” The prowler yelled out that response after he was bitched at for not getting the number off the badge. “There was no fucking way I could get in with them sleeping right there!” The well dressed man reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small envelope. The prowler’s angry defensiveness turned to instant hope as he eagerly reached for the money he was promised. 

When he had the envelope in his grasp, however, he glanced down to notice a long barreled semi-automatic handgun pointed at him with a silencer on the end of it. His anguished eyes shot up into the other man’s, “NO! You fucking son of a...” his curse was cut off when four muffled shots rang out, ending his life within seconds. 

Several hours later, the deceptively chipper beeping of Jared’s phone alarm went off. The lovers groaned their way to consciousness, unhappily having the peel themselves out of each other’s arms. Jared’s body moved like lead when he reached over and silenced the annoying alarm. He sat up slowly and winced with a sharp intake, shifting his weight onto one butt cheek. 

Jared continued to gasp a few more times, then snickered to himself. He had definitely got what he wanted. He thought he would probably feel Jensen until next week. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before finally standing to make his way toward the bathroom. Jensen sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. He yawned and looked over to see Jared struggle a bit to stand before he sluggishly dragged his body away from the bed. 

“Hey,” the older man got his attention. When Jared stopped and looked back, Jensen sat up, “You okay?” The concern in Jensen’s eyes went straight to Jared’s heart. He didn’t need to be worried, but Jensen couldn’t help himself when it came to Jared. “I’m perfect, Jensen,” he smiled softly, “perfect, but I think I need to loosen up a bit.” 

Jared turned and entered the bathroom, as Jensen watched him with a raised eyebrow, “No argument on the ‘perfect’, baby.” Jared snickered loud enough for Jensen to hear him before he turned the water on. The older man grinned, but still had worry in his eyes. He hoped Jared could do his job today without too much soreness to his back side. He forced himself to leave the bed and get coffee made. 

The coffee pot started to drip behind him, making the barest of ‘peeing’ noises, but other wise the place was silent. Jensen stood naked with arms crossed, waiting for the holy liquid to fill the pot. His eyes traveled around the living room, passed over the doors and windows, then landed on the bar. He focused on the patterns in the granite counter top while scrolling through what could possibly be nagging at him. 

Jensen perused the place again, then walked over to the garage door and looked outside at Jared’s SUV. The garage was secure. He turned to glance around the same living room, from a different angle, still wondering what the hell was wrong with his senses. Jensen had a thought about last night’s sedan and looked out the front door peep hole to see if it was still there. It was gone. 

He and Jared had gotten home around ten. If the vehicle was a visitor’s, it wouldn’t be that odd for it to leave sometime late in the night, or even earlier than they’d awakened if the driver had a job. Still, something wasn’t quite right. Jensen walked down the small hallway and passed the washer and dryer. He noticed the white dried evidence of Jared’s first orgasm of the night, knowing his lover would probably turn beat red if he didn’t clean it up before Jared got out here. 

Jensen squirt some cleaner on the machines, grinning to himself as he wiped the dried come off and added the rag to the wash. Jensen slid the laundry doors closed after he turned on the machine and continued checking the spare room and master bedroom. He made sure to look closely at windows and closets. For some reason he felt like it was necessary this morning. 

Jensen’s eyes traveled around Jared’s bedroom and looked everything over. There wasn’t anything that stood out, just messy bed covers and clothing laying on the chair. His badge lay on the nightstand, the gun next to it. Nothing had been moved. The shower stopped and Jensen sighed to himself. It was his turn to get in there, but he still hadn’t figured out what was eating at him. 

Jared dried off in the warm bathroom and then exited to dig in his dresser for underwear and socks. He felt warm hands on his butt cheeks, kneading them when he stood up straight. “Mmmm,” Jared hummed in appreciation with his back to his lover. He leaned into Jensen and moved his head to the side so the detective could kiss his neck. 

“Is this lovely part of you going to be okay today?” Jensen continued kissing Jared lightly on his neck, as he asked that soft question. “Mmhm,” Jared answered in a dreamy voice, “It feels like you’ll be with me, that’s for sure...but I like it,” he added. He turned in the older man’s arms and met him with a kiss. They shared a loving exchange of gentle tongues and lips. After backing away, Jared slapped the back of Jensen’s bare ass cheek playfully. Jensen jerked with a gasp, “Ah,” then he looked at Jared with feigned hurt, “Hey.” “Stop making me hard again, Starsky, or I’ll never get to work,” Jared softened his complaint with a kiss and a smirk. Jensen chuckled, as he backed away from his gorgeous accountant and added a smooth hand swipe across Jared’s groin as he went. Jared gasped, “Dammit,” as he giggled, when Jensen turned away. The older man went into the bathroom with a knowing grin. 

Jensen dressed in the same jeans he wore the previous day. Everything else was Jared’s again. The younger man had left some things out for him. Jensen really needed to bring some of his clothing over here, and vice versa. He was sure the back and forth would continue for a long time. ‘Like forever,’ Jensen thought. Of course, they could actually live ‘together’ eventually. He thought about that too. Maybe when Jared got back, they’d talk about it. 

Jensen walked out into the little dining area and froze. ‘Goddammit,’ his mind cursed, because he was unfairly hit with the sight of his hot genius in his suit pants and shirt again. Jared looked fucking gorgeous in those damn things. Jensen cleared his throat, setting his gun and badge on the table, as Jared heard him and turned. The delicious looking accountant greeted him with a sweet smile, which went straight to the older man’s dick. 

“Now, ‘you’re’ doing it,” Jensen accused in a gruff voice, as Jared stepped toward him with a cup of espresso laced coffee and kissed him before setting it down. He responded with a confused innocent puppy dog look, “Huh?” While buttoning his top button and hanging the tie around his neck, Jared stepped over to the small mirror in the entry hall and tried to get his tie to cooperate. 

Jensen sighed, still wondering how someone that gifted with looks and brains could possibly have been meant for him. The cop picked up his leaded drink and enjoyed it while Jared finished his outfit. The two minute show was worth Jensen’s attention, as he watched Jared straighten the tie and then smooth his hair back with his hands. ‘Jesus,’ Jensen was sure he could retire now and watch this man do simple routine things like this for the rest of his life. Watching Jared do ‘anything’ would be enough. 

Jared did a double take, then looked disbelieving at his lover, as he passed by and grabbed more coffee. He wasn’t sure what Jensen was on about, but it was rattling Jared a little and caused him to sport a light shade of pink on his cheeks. He glanced at Jensen, in between sipping his drink, but looked into his cup when he finally asked him, “What?” 

Jensen grinned. Jared was barely blushing, but it was there. This was going to be his vision for the day. While Jared was in shitsville, doing his last crappy service for those criminals, Jensen would be picturing ‘this’... ‘and that orgasm last night,’ he reminded himself, ‘both of them.’ Jensen got up and went over to Jared. He slid his hands around the delectable man’s waist and kissed him on his cheek. 

“I’m sorry. It’s hard to stop staring, sometimes.” Jensen smiled when Jared’s eyes tried to meet his, but darted between him and everywhere else. It was the cutest fucking response and he couldn’t help taking a few extra seconds to enjoy it before he took pity on Jared and let him go. Jared changed the subject, “So, I’m kind of out of food. There’s two pop tart packets and three protein shakes left.” 

He looked at Jensen with heartfelt apology at not being a better host, but Jensen had to grin. God, he loved this man. “If you’re willing to share, I’ll take a pop tart pack and a shake.” Jared responded eagerly, “Yeah, of course.” He turned to retrieve the items, then stood up and faced Jensen to hand them over. Jensen added his comment with a smirk, “Now I know you love me. A man’s pop tarts are nothing to mess around with...kind of a sacred item, are they not?” 

Jared kissed the older man with his own smirk, “Well, they are, but maybe you’re my new sacred item now. You’ve replaced them.” Jared started to pull away, thinking he needed to get his jacket on and load the car, but Jensen pulled him back. Jensen met his eyes with deeply felt loving conviction. He stared into Jared’s soul with as much of his heart in his eyes as he could. “I love you more than life, and I just need you to know that,” Jensen said. “You come home safe. No matter what you have to do, stay safe and get back here.”

Jared’s eyes pooled at the overwhelming feelings of being the recipient to this kind of intensity. He was overcome with emotion, knowing life had finally gifted him with everything he needed and wanted, all wrapped up in one incredible person. “I love you, Jensen. There’s nothing that’ll keep me from getting back here, as fast as I can.” 

The lovers kissed soft and loving, then rested their foreheads together with combined sighs. After a few seconds, Jared knew it was time. He grabbed his things in silence, then came back into the house after putting them into the car. Jensen had put his belt on and secured his gun in the holster. He was clipping his badge on when Jared handed him his spare key. 

Jensen looked at the offered key, then glanced at his lover for a second, “That what I think it is?” Jared smiled, “Of course it is.” Then he made a mocked face, “Not that you can’t break in, anyway, but this is easier.” Jensen took the key and accepted the loving kiss that Jared offered. The younger man’s eyes darted a bit worriedly after their kiss because he realized it was too late to feed his stray guests. “Uhm, can I ask you to do something?” 

Jensen looked disbelievingly at him, “Of course you can. Anything.” Jared still looked worried, “I have to go and I didn’t feed the cats. Can you,” Jared sighed without finishing, looking a bit panicked at causing Jensen trouble. Jensen smiled, however, and stepped up to kiss him, “I’ve got ‘em, love...and stop worrying. I’ll lock everything up when I leave too.” 

Jared kissed him quick and grinned a ‘thank you’ as he went to his car and got inside. He warmed the SUV for a moment, then backed out. Jensen’s truck was to the side, so he only had to maneuver a couple feet to get down the driveway. Jensen watched the younger man put his car into gear and met his eyes once more before he pulled away with a gentle smile. 

Jensen smiled to himself, but felt the subtle tension still in his gut. It had been a wonderful morning, but dammit if something still gnawed at him. Jensen walked out onto the driveway and looked up and down the silent street. The breeze was still gusting and only one car was pulling out in the distance, probably someone else going to work. He walked to the spare room side of the house and looked at Jared’s gate, noticing it was secure. Jensen walked past the front door and picked up a newspaper on the way, that had been left there earlier. 

He made his way casually to the other gate, on the garage side of the home and stopped in his tracks. The gate was open. Jensen’s internal alarm went off, even though he knew it was breezy and that could have been the cause for it. He inspected the gate, then pulled it firm to make sure it closed. The latch was pretty strong. It didn’t seem like a breeze would have much affect at opening the gate unless someone failed to latch it all the way the last time they opened it. 

Jensen thought about the strange car again, as he worked his way back inside through the garage and turned to push the ‘close’ button. He locked the inside door, then went around and checked all windows again. Nothing had been pried or forced open. He went out back, meaning to feed Jared’s mama cat and kittens. Jensen’s attention turned sour when he saw the food bowl turned over. It wasn’t the fact that the bowl could have turned over from the wind, it was the obvious boot print still present in the damp leftover cat food that had spilled out. 

Jensen filled the food and water dishes, without touching the existing footprint. When he placed them down a few feet to the side of Jared’s patio, the furry creatures came running. Jensen would smile at the sight, but he was too intent on finishing his detective work. He searched around the back yard, covering the windows and each slider. Just as inside, there were no pry marks on the exterior either. He searched the ground and found no more signs of an intruder, until he followed the cement trail between the back patio and Jared’s bedroom slider. 

Next to the door, Jared had a large planter box with the air conditioning unit inside of it. Jensen could plainly see broken branches on the green plants. ‘Son of a bitch,’ he thought, as he came upon two deep sunk in boot prints, like someone had to have been crouched or standing there for quite awhile. Jensen looked up and saw some lighter mud prints on top of the unit. “Fuck,” he cursed out loud. 

He climbed up top of the air unit to stand with his own feet outside of the prints. From this position, Jensen could see right through the gap in Jared’s curtain. He could see the bed, the nightstands and dresser, the closet and the door to the hallway. The only thing he couldn’t see were the bathroom door and larger dresser that were too far flush against the left wall. “Motherfucking son of a bitch,” Jensen cursed out loud, now in a foul mood. 

He went back into the townhouse and called a CSI team get over to Jared’s for pictures and possible prints. Then he called a records tech to run all the maroon four door Buick Oldsmobiles in the area that were between 1974-1980 models. He was looking for current registrations, or expired that might still be in the area. 

Jensen wasn’t sure about the year, but he remembered precisely what make and model it was. He wasn’t sure if they’d come home to interrupt a cat burglar last night, or if maybe Jared had picked up a peeping Tom creeper and didn’t know it. Jensen was hellbent on finding out. 

By eight thirty, Jensen had commandeered the collection of photographs and dusting for prints on as many exterior places, as possible. There weren’t any prints to be found, so all they had were the shoe prints. The teams made their way to the station where Jensen was met by Sharon, one of the best records techs he’d ever known in his career. She handed him a two page list of maroon Buicks within a ten mile radius.

Jensen glanced at the list and noticed the red scribbles and circles. Since Jensen had been at Jared’s for an hour, Sharon had already matched some of the vehicles with local stolen reports for him, looked them up, then eliminated the vehicles that had been totaled in wrecks. There were only nine left to go through. “This is fuckin’ sweet,” Jensen exclaimed. 

He promised his favorite tech a well stocked Starbux gift card, then hurried to his office. Once inside, Jensen logged onto his computer and began going through the rest of the registrations. Within minutes, Morgan called him on his cell phone. “Yeah, Jensen’s greeting was short. JD knew his friend was simply focused. “It’s me,” Jeff’s voice began, “you still looking for a maroon sedan?” 

Jensen looked away from the screen, now redirected by the tension he sensed coming from JD’s voice, “Yeah, why?” Morgan explained he was on scene of a dead body. The man had been shot four times in his stomach in the wee hours of the morning and dumped behind a strip mall. There was an abandoned maroon four door Buick left at a gas station a few blocks away, and JD was currently having DNA tests and prints done to see if there were any matches between the car and the dead guy.

Jensen stood and grabbed his keys, “I’m on my way.” He grabbed his lists and headed out the door, but called JD back from the parking lot when he thought of something, “I want CSI to compare his shoes with some foot prints photo’d this morning at Jared’s.” As Jensen got into his car, Morgan answered him, “Will do...but what the hell has this got to do with the kid? What happened?” 

As he pulled out of the station, Jensen filled Morgan in about Jared’s prowler. In under ten minutes, Jensen pulled up on the scene with Jeff, who stood by while Jensen looked over the details of the body. He noticed the man had solid dark clothing, a hoodie on his sweatshirt that wasn’t covering his head. He died pretty quick, it was obvious. The forensics expert indicated the body had been dumped here and rolled by some bruising he found on his sides and back. They were post-mortem bruises. 

“You ID him yet?” Jensen glanced up at the forensics technician who picked up one of the stiff wrists and turned it slightly so the fingertips showed. Jensen looked closer, as the tech explained, “They’re filed, like something a street criminal would do, or someone who learned it in custody. He probably has a record, but the computer’s having trouble matching him. We’re trying dental.” Jensen nodded in agreement. 

Morgan interjected, “The prints aren’t good in the car, either, but the filed off swirls and loops are a definite match. We haven’t ID’d him but we know he drove that car, for sure, so we’ve got that much.” Jensen’s worry about this correlation to Jared’s prowler last night certainly didn’t brighten his mood. He moved his attention to the dead man’s shoes.

He wore a pair of black work boots, much like something a mechanic might wear, but the pattern on the bottom was what caused Jensen’s stomach to knot. He was sure they were a match. CSI came over when Jensen yelled out to them. The officer pulled up the pictures taken by another of his team earlier. They blew up the picture and sat the computer screen right next to the dead man’s boot. It was a pattern match.

“FUCK!” Jensen stood and walked away. He rubbed his face with his hand, while holding up his phone to his ear and waiting in frustration for someone to answer. Morgan hurried over to him. “Ackles?” Morgan’s concern skyrocketed. What the fuck was going on?” Jensen pushed the end button and called again. His frustration at the lack of answer was obvious. Morgan thought it looked like borderline fear. 

“Ackles, what the fuck is going on? If this is the bozo in our accountant’s back yard, what the hell does that mean?” Jensen looked at Jeff, showing every bit of anguish he felt about this, “I don’t know yet, but every reason my brain comes up with isn’t a good one.” Jensen pushed the call button again. He knew it was probably pointless, but he couldn’t stop himself from trying a third fucking time. He finally gave up and left a voice mail, “Jare, please please call me when you get this. Before you get on the plane, call me.” Jensen hung up and sighed.

After witnessing Jensen’s borderline panic, Morgan asked, “Jensen, where’s the kid?” Jensen answered, “He’s getting on plane.” JD stepped closer, “What time does he take off?” Jensen answered, “Nine thirty.” JD argued, “Well call the damn tower. It’s only nine twenty, tell them it’s an emergency and not to let them take off!” Jensen scrolled through some on line numbers until he found the one for their local executive airport. He tried a dispatch number, hopeful that JD’s idea might work. 

After two transfers, Jensen was finally speaking to a dispatcher in the actual tower. He claimed a law enforcement emergency and got the guy’s attention. “I need you to stop a plane from taking off, fast. I don’t know the ID number, but it’s a private charter headed for Tallahassee.” Jensen sighed and closed his eyes, waiting. Jeff watched him with baited breath. 

“What?!” Jensen’s reaction didn’t look good. Morgan stood there and watched as Jensen’s stress level skyrocketed with whatever was being relayed to him. “Well fine, then check flight plans under a Barron or Murray. They were definitely scheduled for ‘something’ this morning.” Jensen sighed again, being forced to wait. 

Morgan glanced at his watched, noting it was now nine thirty five. ‘Fucking red tape,’ his mind ranted, his eyes going back to his friend. Jensen suddenly stiffened. His expression turned stoic, but Morgan could read the controlled breathing as Jensen’s natural cop mode struggled to deal with his increased blood pressure. “Yeah? Are you absolutely sure?” 

Jensen’s demeanor spoke volumes, as he asked questions and grabbed a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. JD handed him a pen. Jensen took something down, then put Jeff’s pen in his own pocket. He finally hung up after a choppy ‘thanks’, then sighed heavily with his eyes closed before meeting Jeff’s eyes. Morgan already knew it was bad, but he gave Jensen a few seconds to process. 

Jensen finally announced, “He gave me the flight plan and the ID of the plane, at least. It’s going to Ottawa.”


	18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues with Detective Sergeant Ackles putting enough information together to go after the innocent accounting expert who has stolen his heart. JD helps him get a team together and coordinate their plan. Two planes travel three hours apart. Lots of information on the bad guys here, as we move into some upcoming ugly confrontations. Jared got the messages, at least, but now he’s alone and surrounded by nasty people, while Jensen worries sick about being too far behind.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 

 

Jared met the new accountant, Gil, and talked to him briefly before it was time leave the office and get to the airport. He seemed easy going and eager to learn. He told Jared he’d worked with Barron in the past, but never Murray. This opportunity to do bigger centralized accounts was a huge compliment. That, combined with the larger pay check were the reasons he’d taken the job. 

Jared knew it was going to be a long ass day, but thoughts of this being his last trip with these assholes kept him motivated. He was inwardly thankful that he wouldn’t be spending his time training a dick head, and when Gil told him of his accounting degree and background, that was more icing on the cake. 

While the airport mechanics performed their last minute checks on the plane, Gil was motioned to come sit in one of the front bench areas and talk face to face with the millionaires. Jared wasn’t included, but he tried not to give a fuck. Perhaps it was the official new employee intimidation tactic they were laying on the man. ‘Otherwise known as the ‘you-better-not-steal-money-from-us and we’re better than you’ lecture,’ he thought. 

When Gil returned to his seat, he looked a little preoccupied. In fact, he was a bit pale and he didn’t look at Jared right away. Jared glanced back at the millionaires and watched them take their own seats without speaking to one another. They hadn’t said much to Jared this morning, but that wasn’t anything unusual. Seeing them avoid each other, however, that was new. Jared wondered if they were still pissed from their big blow up. 

Jared watched the indicator lights come on with a ‘ding’ sound. Everyone reached into their pockets to turn their cell phones off. When they started to taxi, Jared glanced at his watch and realized they were actually taking off a few minutes early. He nestled in comfortably, and smiled to himself at the reminder of his previous night’s activities. He’d told Jensen he wanted to ‘feel’ him, and that’s what he’d gotten.

An hour into the flight, Jared realized he’d been dozing off. He straightened up and yawned, then pleasantly exclaimed an “oh” as he spied a rolling cart of assorted brunch items in the aisle between he and Gil. The cart was layered with shelves of fruits, cheeses, mini omelets, biscuits and different meats. There was a bin on the bottom with ice cooled juices and a steaming hot decanter of coffee on top.

‘Okay, I just ‘might’ miss this shit,’ Jared thought, then corrected himself, ‘no, I won’t,’ when he thought over the arrogant intimidation tactics, the disregard for others, the sneaky illegal bullshit and the disappearing partners...and then he thought about Reiner, which pissed him off all over again. Jared smirked mockingly at the boyish excitement his new partner accountant showed, as the man piled his plate with food. ‘Enjoy,’ Jared thought to himself, ‘enjoy the bullshit that comes with it, too.’ 

Jared might have had more compassion for his temporary accounting partner if the man hadn’t already been familiar with his bosses. Obviously, Gil had been working in other areas of their zillion companies and run into Barron before. He still chose to work for them, which didn’t make sense in Jared’s ethical mind. In college and at Duns and Bradstreet, it had been pounded into his brain that integrity was everything in the world of finance. You were either dishonest, or trustworthy and Jared knew anyone with Gil’s background knew that, too. The man chose to be here. 

Jared hadn’t eaten more than two bites of those pop tarts this morning. He had enough time to down half the protein shake before he met Gil, but that was it. This late breakfast was actually hitting the spot. He ate his fill, then sipped coffee for awhile before helping to clean up the tray. They didn’t have a flight attendant, so Gil and Jared rolled the cart to the back of the plane. 

The accountants grabbed cold bottles of water and settled in seats that faced each other with a table between them. They had a ton of time so they both figured going over more of the books and procedures was going to be a big help to Gil when the meetings began this afternoon. Jared opened his laptop and removed some folders from his bag, as Gil set up his own laptop. He scooted over sideways and sat next to Jared so their screens could be side by side. 

The accountants spent the next hour going through several transactions and the history of some investment gains and losses. Jared stuck with the eleven accounts that were normally affected by a Tallahassee meeting. He figured he would touch on Singapore too. Gil caught on quick. That was a plus. Jared actually decided to go further and shared some of Reiner’s files. 

Gil told Jared the travelling didn’t bother him. His family was spread out and he had no ties keeping him from jumping on last minute flights to unknown venues. Jared was surprised to learn his bosses hadn’t even bothered to tell Gil where they were going today, so he filled the man in. 

The accountants walked around their restricted area to stretch their legs a bit. Jared used the restroom and washed his face. After wetting his hands and smoothing back the unruly hairs, he returned to the main cabin and stayed standing for a bit longer. 

He realized that he hadn’t turned his cell phone back on after take off. Not that he ever got hardly any calls during work, but he still liked to know he was connected. Jensen and he usually exchanged texts at the end of their work day, so there wasn’t any reason to think he was missing anything. He sipped his water while he waited for the device to reboot. 

Jared leaned over and looked outside some of the windows. All he could see were clouds on one side of the plane, so he tried the other side. ‘Still clouds,’ he thought. Jared could usually tell how close they were to Tallahassee by some of the coastline. He sat down next to one of the windows and opened his weather app. 

Jared snorted mockingly, ‘Nice job,’ then peered out the window once again and confirmed the weather app didn’t know what the hell it was talking about. Coastline between Texas and Florida was supposed to be clear and sunny. ‘Whatever,’ Jared thought. He figured they only had about an hour to go, so he took Gil up on a game of chess. 

Jared felt his phone vibrate and pulled it from his pocket. When he looked down, he was surprised to see Jensen’s missed call. Actually, there had been a few missed calls but they were two hours old and just now popping in before his eyes. Jared mentally cursed, as he pushed the voicemail playback. 

Jared tried over and over to return Jensen’s call, but the signal kept failing. “Fuck,” the accountant cursed out loud. He sent a text, hoping at least that would get through, ‘Jen, M’sorry, the signal isn’t working. Still in the air. Hoping text works. What’s wrong?’ 

Jared waited, mentally scrolling through the possibilities of what the heck Jensen might have been trying to tell him before they took off this morning. He sounded in one piece when he called, but Jared couldn’t imagine what might have come up. He stared at the phone with worry all over his face, almost willing the device to vibrate with a call or a text. 

Gil smiled with knowing acceptance, as he sat facing Jared with his hands folded. He’d taken a definite interest in the adorably charming young numbers guy but he felt a bit deflated at this new turn of events. Gil gave Jared a few minutes to see if he got any return messages before he interrupted him. 

“I think I’ve just had my heart broken,” Gil spoke up, surprising Jared out of his thoughts. Jared asked confusedly, “What?” Gil smirked, “You’ve just broken my heart, but that’s okay, it wasn’t your fault.” Jared’s mouth dropped open for a few seconds, as he studied Gil like he was looking at some new depreciation percentage that didn’t make sense. 

When Jared started to look like he might be getting it, Gil rushed to head off that nervous shyness that he could see coming, “No, I’m sorry for assuming. I thought ‘maybe’ you might be single, and that ‘maybe’ you’d be interested in a near future dinner out if I proved I wasn’t a total failure in training and impressed you with my skills on this trip out...but I can see by the way you’re hovering over that phone that someone’s already commandeered your attentions.” 

Gil smiled, trying to soothe his mistake. Jared smiled a little nervously, in response. It was an odd feeling to have another man’s attention like this, now that he was so wrapped up in the new love of his life, but Jared was glad that he’d been so obvious to Gil. The other man was spot on. Jared’s heart was definitely committed. 

“At least you let me down early,” Gil added, to which Jared countered, “I didn’t ‘know’ I was letting you down, at ‘all’.” Gil nodded, “True,” then smiled once again, “I’m glad you’re happy. That’s cool.” Jared smiled gratefully, but then glanced down once more with a sigh of frustration. Gil offered his support, “The LTE signals are not getting through.” He pointed toward the front of the plane where Murray and Barron sat, “I noticed they each tried a call earlier that didn’t work.”

Jared looked that way and sighed. At least he knew it was everyone, but still, not knowing what Jensen wanted was eating at him. After waiting a few more minutes without a response, Jared finally started to play chess, but kept his phone in his hand. For some reason, it just felt better to have it ready. 

Only ten minutes into the game, Jared felt a slight descent. He knew they couldn’t possibly be close to Tallahassee yet, so he figured the pilot must be trying to get around some turbulence. Jared’s distraction was obvious to his opponent. Gil guessed the handsome accountant was a better player than he was showing and probably would have kicked his ass into checkmate already if he hadn’t been worried about something else.

 

***

Jensen left JD at the scene of the dead body and drove over to the abandoned maroon sedan right after he called Jared and tried to stop him from boarding. CSI had already dusted the car for prints. There were dozens all over the vehicle, but the freshest ones matched the flattened ridges of the unknown dead guy and were useless in the system. 

Jensen knew he needed to find some connection that would get him a search warrant. If he could prove any kind of probable cause, it would open up a full office search, plus give him the backup needed to get Ottawa police to stop the passengers of that damn plane until he could get there.

The license plate and the vin on the dash didn’t belong to this car, so Jensen leaned far into the engine block to find the back up vin. This frustrating shit made it more difficult to place the owner of the car, wasting precious time. The engine block came back to another vehicle that was registered to a Hogart Buford. The man turned out to be an inmate in the local jail. 

The license plate belonged to another inmate at the same jail who had an auto theft history a mile long. The vin on the dash was someone on the east coast. This wasn’t getting anywhere. This was all incriminating stolen vehicle crap, but as of yet, only to the dead guy. 

Jensen called his captain, while driving back to JD’s scene. The commander was confidant enough in Jensen’s track record to at least arrange the law enforcement shared charter plane to be fueled and ready for take off when Jensen had enough cause and a warrant to get a team to Ottawa as fast as humanly possible. Austin PD had a nice jet at their disposal, but it fell to the most crucial need at any given time between six different agencies. 

Jensen checked his phone over and over. He wondered if his lover knew, by now, that he wasn’t going where he thought. He envisioned all kinds of twisted terrible thoughts that could be happening on that plane and his innocent accounting expert was right in the middle of it. Jensen’s frustration increased. His hands were still tied, but he wasn’t going to slow down. If he had to take them all on by himself, that’s what he would do. 

By the time Jensen arrived back at the body scene, their ‘John Doe’ had been identified by his dental records. Morgan trotted over, as Jensen started to get out of the car. “Get back in the car. Grab the judge’s clerk while I write,” JD ordered, as he went around to get in Jensen’s front passenger seat without hesitation. 

Jensen’s gut twisted, because it meant the ‘id’ hadn’t been good. He got back in the car fast and pulled out, headed for the felony intake courts. Jensen used his blue tooth to clear an appointment with a judge, while he drove Andreotti style to their destination. JD clicked away on his department iPad for a few a minute, until he finally reached a spot where he could write a quick warrant and detainer request. 

Morgan looked at his friend, “I know you’re gonna blow a gasket, but don’t get us killed on the way there.” Jeff looked back at the screen and typed, as the younger man spouted off pissed and impatient, “I’m already fuckin’ passed that, dickhead, now who the fuck is he?” JD knew he was going to get motion sick, trying to type in this damn passenger seat, with Jensen driving like he was in pursuit. He grabbed the dash and took a breather, “He’s been arrested a number of times for some petty thefts and dui’s. He was in on a wobbler until yesterday. His name is Dudley Waters and his dental records were all from custody.” 

JD paused a fraction of a second, as Jensen stopped at a red light. “And?” Jensen prompted in frustration, as he turned to look at his friend. JD met his eyes, “And, don’t forget to not get us killed please, but your warrant and detainer are all wrapped up in one neat little package of shit.” 

Jensen’s angry curiosity increased, as Morgan continued, “Waters’ dental was compared with his dental records in custody. He’s been in so many times, the tax payers have graciously paid for his fillings. Waters was a cell mate with Reiner until he was bailed out yesterday...he was bailed by the one and only Brian Channing.” 

Jensen’s eyes darted between his friend and traffic, waiting for the goddamned slow as fuck light. He stiffened, searching his memory for any reason he should know what that name meant, as the light turned green and he moved. JD sighed in feigned annoyance, realizing his friend hadn’t quite caught up to him, “Are you telling me I am the old as fuck senior citizen who remembers the Brian who came to cute accountant’s door after poor said cute accountant puked his guts out the night before from being drugged?” 

Jensen’s memory sparked instantly, as JD watched the look of surprised recognition wash over his face. The older man grinned knowingly, as Jensen glanced at him in understanding. He still had that haunted look in his eyes, knowing this didn’t make things better for Jared. JD continued, “We’ve got ‘em as murder suspects. Brian works for Murray and Barron. He does everything they tell him to...Jared confirmed that for us. Brian bailed dead guy out, then dead guy sneaks around Jared’s yard, peeking in windows, then dead guy shows up dead. Dead guy obviously got his little motivation from his cell-ee yesterday, to do a deed for our millionaires.” 

“Fuckinchrist,” Jensen bitched, then pushed the call button on his phone and held it to his ear. JD delivered his knowing grin with a brag, “Damn good Marine work, wouldn’t you say?” The comment wasn’t even acknowledged, as Jensen was already talking to someone in his office, “Kate, is Banks in his office?” 

Jensen waited a few seconds, as JD rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Figures,” then went back to working on his probable cause paragraph because he obviously wasn’t getting any credit. Jensen did a double take at the older man, wondering what he’d missed, but with a perturbed thought he reminded himself it had probably been some snarky dumb ass comment. 

“Yeah? Okay, thank you,” Jensen waited again. Morgan figured he was obviously being connected to someone. “Banks, it’s Ackles. I need you to bring every piece of intel you’ve got and meet us at the plane.” There was a pause, then Jensen continued, “I’ll talk to the Captain. You’ll be clear to leave if you’re with us, just meet us at that plane. Bring every bit of info you’ve got on Ottawa.” 

Jensen disconnected, then went a few more blocks before he pulled into the parking lot of the felony intake unit. The special courts were between the District Attorney’s office and the jail. They were reserved for only warrant needs, felony and quick releases. As soon as Jensen parked, he realized his fellow detective sergeant had put his hand on the dash and seemed to be unable to get out at the moment. 

Jensen sighed with a sideways disgruntled look, realizing JD was probably about to puke from his driving. “Sorry,” Jensen muttered, feeling bad for the guy. He got out of his side of the car and gave JD a moment while he adjusted his own weapon and over shirt. Jensen walked around to the passenger side, just as JD was getting out. The older man was silent, but he grabbed his open mini iPad and shut the door. 

The detectives exchange a quick glance which spoke volumes about driving like an ass and making your partner sick, but they were too focused on getting to their favorite accountant to even offer any puns. They hurried inside and took a seat outside their appointed judge’s office. 

Morgan gave the document over to Jensen so he could make edits to it and sign. When he was finished, Jeff took it back and finished with his own signature and badge number. While they were waiting, Morgan’s iPad indicated he had a message with video. It was CSI from the gas station. The video of the parking lot had been retrieved and sent to them. 

Jensen watched the reply Morgan turned toward him. A large black executive Town car pulled up next to the maroon sedan and picked the prowler up. “Jesus,” Jensen grumbled. That car was known to both of them. It had been at the gym that day when they first met Jared. 

“I have to call him...at least try again,” Jensen said. Morgan nodded, “I know...go.” Jensen walked to another side of the office and chose a cubicle for privacy. JD watched him from behind, feeling every bit of anguished tension coming from his friend. They absolutely couldn’t rush this part, even though they wanted to. The judge had to know everything if they wanted to get their paperwork. 

At eleven thirty, the judge called them inside. Jensen was just walking back toward JD with the same worried look he’d had all morning. He met Morgan’s eyes and shook his head, telling the man he hadn’t gotten through. Once inside, Jensen was all business. He explained a quick history on the businessmen in question, the prowler who became a dead body, the car and all its piece-mail owners, the connection between Dudley and Reiner in custody, and the employee of their suspects who had bailed the dead guy out. 

Morgan took over and explained the need to get to Ottawa and pick up the millionaires, while trying to save an innocent civilian who had been tricked into flying with them. He told the judge they had intel from a former informant that Ottawa was a hub for major trafficking and drug exchanges. 

Jensen took over, “Sir, the prowler saw me at the innocent civilian’s house because we happen to be in a relationship. The prowler was sent by our suspects to snoop around and report back. The civilian is their accountant who is in the process of quitting. The prowler saw my badge and gun sitting on a table. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him. Because the prowler got into the Town car we happen to know is used by Barron and Murray, it’s reasonable to assume they know their accountant is seeing a cop. He isn’t an informant, but they may not believe him.”

This crap was all repetitive to the detectives, but not to the judge. He needed to hear it all. Judge Ackerman sighed, registering the seriousness of the situation in his eyes, “If I sign this, can you perform your duties, upholding the laws, even with the conflicting feelings you have?” Jensen nodded, “Absolutely.” The judge thought this over for a few seconds, then silently read through JD’s request and signed the document. He knew these detective sergeants. They had an excellent track record with the judges. He believed them. 

While his clerk stamped her seal and dated the document, the seasoned judge looked at his officers, “Get those pieces of shit back here and save the young man but I’m trusting you to keep your cool and deal with your personal feelings.” The two detective’s shook the judge’s hand, agreeing with “Yes Sir”, then gratefully collected their stamped and sealed papers from the clerk. 

On their way out, the judge told them he would contact someone he knew in Ottawa and send the documents to them to save Jensen’s team time upon arrival. Both detectives thanked the judge again before leaving. Jensen drove them to the municipal airport while JD gave instructions to his team. Two of his team were coming with he and Jensen, the others were going over to the Murray and Barron offices to do a search. 

Jensen talked to his lead. The team was in the middle of some various cases, but three of the detectives from dinner the previous night were available so they assured Jensen they would be at the plane within fifteen minutes. JD called their Captain next and vouched for Banks going with them, so internal investigators didn’t think the man left town against policy. 

Within twenty minutes, Jensen, Banks, Morgan and five detectives boarded the plane together. Jensen looked around and realized how fortunate he was to have such good people to back him. He started to thank them, but most of them cut him off with obnoxious retorts to which Jensen sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Finally,’ Jensen thought, they were finally moving in the right direction. 

Jensen felt his phone vibrate as he settled into a seat. He eagerly grabbed it out of his shirt pocket and opened it, then JD touched him on the shoulder, as Jensen sighed defeatedly. He held his phone up for Morgan to read the text, then dropped his hand with the phone loosely onto his lap. The voice in his head was screaming with worry. Morgan took a seat facing Jensen, knowing damn well his friend was gonna have a stroke if he didn’t calm him down. 

“When did he send that?” Morgan started with the basics. Jensen sighed, “Eleven forty. That means it took two fucking hours for my first one to get to him, and they’re probably landing for fuel in Chicago already. If he hasn’t gotten the ones I sent from the judge’s office, then he still won’t know everything.” Morgan asked, “You tracking him?” Jensen nodded, “Yeah, I located his phone earlier. He’s somewhere over Chicago.” 

Jeff leaned forward, “Look Sparky, try and think about this. We now know he’s got a signal problem but he’s landing in a big city pretty quick. He’ll get his signal back. Did you give him the whole scoop?” Jensen nodded, “Yeah. I left him all of it I could fit in a recording.” Jeff said, “We both know how smart he is. Your message will pop in soon, if it isn’t already doing so now. You gotta believe that we’re gonna be successful, Ackles...and that kid’s important to us all. We’ll get him back.” 

Jensen knew JD was right. It wouldn’t do any good to burn ulcers into his gut. They had done everything they possibly could. He nodded at his friend and tried to offer his gratitude with a smile, but JD knew damn well it was forced. Both officers knew how dangerous these people were and how things could go to shit real quick for their beloved accountant if they didn’t handle it right. 

The group of cops waited until take off was over, then they gathered in a makeshift circle to learn everything Banks had with him. He started from the first investigation, then continued for the next hour until he ended with the intern’s disappearance. The team asked questions and conferred on possible ways to approach their targets. They called Ottawa PD and exchanged information so the agency could plan to assist them. 

Morgan’s team checked in that the office search turned up a ton of files, some itineraries, calendars and two huge servers with a ton of storage. They confiscated all of the items and were running them through forensics. Bryan Channing hadn’t been on the scene. HR was the only one there and thought that Channing had gone on the same trip as her bosses. 

As the team moved around to stretch their legs a bit, Jensen realized he’d forgotten to provide them with any lunch. At that point, two of the officers emptied their duffle bags and tossed power bars, corn nuts, fig newtons and peanuts to everyone. “Really?” Morgan scoffed at the ensemble, “That shit’s gonna stop an old man up, did you bring any real fruit?” 

The others teased him with “fuck no” and “suck it up, grandpa” until Morgan finally took his treats to another seat. “This was all we had time to get,” one of the officers explained to Jensen, who smiled gratefully. “It’ll do, fellas, and thanks. We stop in Chicago to refuel so we can grab some quick sandwiches.” 

The group of men each partook on their choice of snacks, then they grabbed waters and soda’s from the stocked refrigerator in back. Jensen sat in his reclined seat and willed the plane to go faster. He closed his eyes, but then glanced down at his phone. He watched Jared’s red locator dot hover over Chicago. ‘I love you,’ Jensen thought to himself, ‘please please be okay.’ 

***

Jared definitely felt the plane start to descend more rapidly. He looked out the window saw a grey skyline with smoke steeples from factories. Where they were, he had no fucking clue. “What the..” Jared’s confused complaint was cut short when he felt the vibration of his phone. He quickly looked at the screen and noticed two voicemails from Jensen. 

Jared told Gil he was sorry but he needed to check his messages. Gil assured him he would clean the game up and put it away, as his counterpart returned to his seat for privacy. Jared noticed a text was pending, so he chose that first. ‘J, listen to the vm. Listen to them in order. J’. Jared’s internal alarm rang loudly as he read the words about three times before he quickly selected the voicemail box. 

He put the phone to his ear and listened to the voice he loved more than life. “Baby, it’s me. Before you listen to my second message, I need you to find the poker face you never thought you had. Kind of the one your shitbag bosses like to use. Put those beautiful expressive eyes on lockdown and be as non-emotional and blasé as you possibly can. This is for your safety, love. Do that and then play the second voicemail.” 

Jared actually looked at the phone before he dropped the hand holding it in his lap and tried to make sense of the older man’s words. He glanced around at the other men on the plane, then back out the window. Jared closed his eyes and worked on grounding his fear, just like Jensen had told him to. He knew whatever it was had to be bad, so he pulled on every resolve he could find and took a deep breath.

Jared put the phone back to his ear to listen. He was so focused, he barely felt the wheels of the plane touch down on the runway. Jared’s anxiety shot through the roof, as Jensen recited what had happened, and how he knew Jared was on a plane for Ottawa. 

The accountant rested his forehead against his window with his eyes closed. His breathing threatened to spiral out of control, as his panic rose. Were they going to kill him? Jesus, he was going to die. 

As if Jensen had known where Jared’s mind would go, he reminded Jared that he was strong and resilient...that everything was going be okay and then he surprised Jared with the fact that he was coming to get him. Jared’s silent tears came. He knew he was supposed to be stoic, but what if this was it? What if he never saw Jensen again? Jensen was really coming to get him? 

Jensen’s voice continued, “I know this is scary, but what you have to remember is I’m coming for you. I’m three hours behind your plane and there’ll be a whole team of kick ass guys with me who have pending appointments with you to do their finances, so they’re not gonna let anything happen to you.” 

Jared actually giggled and it helped stop the emotional overload for a second. He wiped his eyes. How Jensen could make him laugh right now was beyond him. He wiped his face again and tried to collect himself. 

Jensen’s message started to beep with warnings like it had only thirty seconds left, so the older man hurried, “I need you to play along with your dickweed bosses...keep them as unsuspecting of you as you can. Be honest about us, if they ask, because they already know. Keep them from turning on you until I can get there. And if you think things have turned sour and there’s no other option, you run...I know you can run, so run like the wind and hide until I can find you. Remember, I’m coming to get you. I lo...”

Jensen’s voicemail cut out before his last words, but Jared knew what they were. He pushed the voicemail again and listened to the voice he loved repeat everything. “I’m comin’ to get you,” Jared closed his eyes and focused on those words. He forced himself to text Jensen a response that would assure him Jared understood. He wanted Jensen to focus on staying safe. 

Jared put his phone away and stayed focused on the view outside, as he tried to find some way ‘not’ to look terrified. He had a quick thought that he could head for a restroom and snack area while the plane was fueling, then make a run for his life. When Jared felt a hand on his shoulder he turned with a gasp. He struggled to get a grip because it was just Gil. 

Jared’s eyes darted to the front of the plane, where he saw his bosses exiting. Gil explained, “I’m sorry if I startled you. They said we could stretch our legs...but we aren’t to go further than terminal C. Murray said it’ll be thirty minutes before we take off again.” 

Jared nodded with a smile that didn’t match his eyes. He wasn’t convinced he could trust Gil. He picked up his laptop but left his suit jacket and duffle until Gil asked him what he was doing. “Well, we’re coming right back,” Jared offered. Gil said, “Oh, actually Mr. Murray said we’ll be taking a different plane so we have to take all our stuff.” 

Jared looked confused, “Why are we changing planes? What’s wrong with this one?” Gil shrugged, then shook his head, “I have no idea, but I never ask too many questions in this business. I just go where they tell me, ya know? At least we get to walk around a bit.” 

Jared decided he definitely shouldn’t trust Gil. He was obviously a company man. Jared wouldn’t be shocked if the other financial expert had been told to keep an eye on him. As he gathered his things, Jared realized he would need to notify Jensen as soon as possible about changing planes. 

The Chicago O’Hare was huge, but the private executive portion wasn’t something you could get lost in. Jared’s hopes of waiting until the other men were distracted, then making a run for it, quickly fell apart when he noticed the enclosure had two long rectangular wings with high visibility up and down them. There were only a few restaurants and upscale bars, one gift shop and a few sets of restrooms. There was nowhere to run and keep running.

Gil was like a tumor, following him everywhere. It was goddamned annoying. They walked up and down the entire terminal wing for fifteen minutes. Jared’s leg muscles and back side definitely felt better. He went into the gift shop and bought some chocolate covered gummy worms and grape soda. He snagged a Batman comic from one of the stands, then headed for the restroom. Anything to feel normal, like he was ‘not’ traveling with murders. 

Jared was further annoyed when Gil followed him into the restroom. It was huge and fancy inside, with granite and marble everywhere. There were separate stalls for hand and face washing, showers if you needed them, and stacks of complimentary plush towels. There were shoe shiners and a couple shaving cabinets with disposable supplies in them. ‘Nice,’ Jared thought. 

His snarkiness added that maybe he should really do himself up so if they killed him, the funeral home would have it easy. Humor wasn’t what he really felt, but it was a good old fall back to cover up his need to run screaming out into public. Jared wondered what they would do if he did that. He took a deep breath and thought for a minute. The airport wing was solid business people, some of them quite wealthy. He had no idea how many were like his bosses, therefore running up to strangers might bring on a dangerous backfire. 

Jared washed his face and hands with the super soft luxury soap. He smoothed his hair back again, then looked himself over. His bosses wouldn’t appreciate that he’d left his tie off, nor would they approve of his top shirt button being open. It had been ingrained in Jared, from the beginning, that among associates, the millionaires wanted their employees to be in suits and ties...always. He decided he would worry about that later and stuffed his tie into his laptop case. 

With jerky frustrated movements, Jared rolled down his sleeves and started to button the cuff’s. Unexpectedly, his bosses walked in. He stiffened as they went toward the back and performed their own ablutions before returning to stand behind Jared. Gil had finished his own hygienic processes and was just coming from another one of the private sinks. “Oh,” he started, then smiled at his bosses. Jared’s stomach churned. 

Barron and Murray stood a few feet behind Jared and stared at him through the reflection. Murray spoke to Gil, his eyes never leaving Jared, “Gil, give us a few moments of privacy with Jared, will you?” The new accountant seemed a bit surprised, at first, but he quickly left with an “of course” and a worried backward glance at Jared. 

Jared remembered Jensen’s words, ‘play along,’ and forced himself to turn and face them without showing any fear. At least he hoped he wasn’t showing any fear. He leaned back against the counter with his hands on the edge, trying to look as casual as he could muster. He reminded himself it would be normal to be ticked about the change in flight plans, so he stuck with that. 

The two were visually dissecting him. It was an intimidation tactic and nothing new. This was the first eye contact either of them had made with him today. Jared looked between them until Murray finally spoke first, “We have a couple of concerns, Jared. Some things have come to our attention and we feel it’s imperative to clear them up.” Jared stayed calm, “Fine...I have one too. I packed a bag with one change of clothes and trained the new guy to do Tallahassee accounts because that’s where I was told I was going. Is there a reason why we’re in Chicago?” 

Murray spoke first, with a knowing grin plastered to his face, “Jared, we need to know if, after the whole incident with Reiner and your resentment toward me for letting him continue to work for us, you felt compelled to go on a tirade and try and have us investigated for some reason?”

Jared didn’t have to fake his reaction. As Murray blurted out the insinuation, the accountant’s face spoke volumes about his confusion and disbelief. “What?!” Jared scrambled for why the hell they would blame him for something like that...but then his thoughts landed on Jensen. 

“I haven’t done that, I...” Jared started, but Murray interrupted him with his hand up. The millionaire seemed angry and impatient, “Is it true that you’ve been sleeping with a member of the Austin Police Department?” Jared’s eyes darted between the men. He let the authentic embarrassment of such an invasive question show freely. ‘Be honest about us, they already know,’ Jared heard Jensen’s voice from that voicemail in his mind. 

“I,” Jared nervously cleared his throat, “I’ve been in a relationship with a detective, yes...is that a problem?” Murray spouted off angrily, “Of ‘course’ it’s a problem! Don’t you fucking pretend that he hasn’t asked you questions about your work!” Jared argued defensively, “Why would he? It’s my private life and it has nothing to do with your business!” 

Barron sighed, glancing at his partner with blatant irritation. Murray backed off and stood silent, while Barron asked in a calmer voice, “Jared, how long have you been seeing this detective?” ‘They already know,’ Jared thought over Jensen’s words again, then answered, “I think...about six or...maybe seven weeks.” Barron said, “I see. So what have you discussed about work with him? Have you talked about money, other employees, things like that?” 

Murray burst out with a mocking guffaw, “Of course he fucking has. So called pillow talk, right Jared?” The accounting expert visibly wilted a bit in front of them. Jared knew the formerly ‘friendlier’ millionaire had been ticked off when he had to do without Reiner. Now, Jared was connected to a cop...he deduced this was plenty to set off a rich felon who had gotten used to getting his way. Still, it didn’t sit well to think Murray had turned on him.

Barron still seemed to be mulling Jared’s innocence over and giving him the benefit of the doubt, at least. Jared decided to give them something that might win their trust back, “He doesn’t like me working for you,” Jared confessed, “he told me that from start. He wanted me to leave, but I didn’t until the travel and my dad’s health didn’t mix and I had to quit, anyway. He’s happy I’m leaving, but he doesn’t ask me about money, or you guys, or anything else. He seems to know things about you that he doesn’t like but he doesn’t tell me why. I might come home upset after a twelve hour day, but it’s not like I open your books and spill everything out to him. I don’t discuss money with him, and he doesn’t ask.” 

Jared looked at Murray, “He was pissed off when I told him you let Reiner come back after the asshole drugged me. He cares about me, so he checks to make sure when Reiner’s in and out of jail. He thinks I’m going to Tallahassee today, just like I did, so he’ll probably be pissed at you for that, too.“ Jared looked between them. He wasn’t sure whether they were quite buying his downplayed story. 

Murray argued, “You know, it wasn’t actually ‘Reiner’ that tried to drug you, it was the goon squad with him. Reiner wasn’t privy to it.” Jared spouted off angrily, “That’s bullshit! Reiner’s a lying piece of shit. He’s been screwing up your books for years and you’ve done nothing about it. He manipulated you both by telling you I didn’t want the bigger accounts. He lied about Damian to get him canned. The asshole drugged me, then he attacked me. Why was it so important that you keep him?” 

Jared was on a roll. When neither man said anything, he looked at Murray, “Or is it that he’s necessary to those particular deals you mentioned and that’s his only value? Are they that damn important?” The wheels in Jared’s proverbial above average IQ were spinning different directions, while the millionaires were silent. Defensive anger had taken over and caused him to spout off things he’d been harboring, but had that been a good idea? He had either just saved himself, or gotten himself killed. 

Murray’s face was priceless. Jared watched the man sigh and close his eyes for a second, then open them with resentment. Something Jared just said must have caused that look. Barron’s face turned to more of an intriguing look. The man actually raised an eyebrow and turned to his business partner, “What particular deals is he talking about?” 

Jared couldn’t help the spark of satisfaction he felt. This was another rift between them. One of these murderers was obviously keeping things from the other and Jared had just pointed it out. Murray sighed in reluctant acceptance at Jared, then turned toward his partner, “If we can discuss it on the plane.” 

Barron’s stoic demeanor returned. There was a hint of cold calculation in his eyes directed at Murray, then he turned to Jared and put his hand out. Jared glanced down at it and back up in confusion. Barron said, “Your cell phone.” Jared glanced between them and stiffened. “My cell phone, why?” His internal panic started to regurgitate itself, as Barron explained, “We supplied it for you and this particular trip bears no room for mishaps or information leaks. You’ll be with us the entire time, so you won’t need it.” 

They obviously didn’t trust him. ‘Well fuck,’ he thought to himself. Murray’s look of gloating satisfaction couldn’t be misunderstood. Jared’s brain scrambled to remind him the original company phone was in his laptop bag. He leaned over, trying to look reluctant and annoyed, then pulled out the issued phone they had given him. Barron put the phone into his suit pocket, then told Jared they’d be waiting for him across the hall at gate 3. 

The millionaires left the restroom, leaving Jared to exhale the pent up breath he was holding. He tried to calm down. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten away with keeping his personal cell phone. As he turned to face the sink again, Jared picked up a towel and threw it into the bin beside the sink. He had plugged his personal phone into a charging socket when he first came in, and it had been blocked from view by the towel. Thank God they hadn’t seen it. 

Jared sent a quick text to Jensen that they were changing planes and leaving from gate 3 but he didn’t know why or where it was going yet. They didn’t trust him, wouldn’t tell him, and they took his other cell phone away from him. Jared pushed send fast, as he heard someone coming back in. He turned his head to see Gil. ‘Mister fucking annoying,’ Jared thought. 

Jared quickly stuffed his phone into his suit jacket pocket, then turned to face him. Gil looked stressed, “I guess we’re boarding now. They said we needed to go. Is everything alright?” Jared nodded, “Yeah,” then half smiled at the newby while grabbing his things and passing by him, “Let’s go.” 

The accountants boarded with their bosses, walking a few feet behind them. Jared had been too focused on the fact that he was still breathing and walking to notice the two additional men that had joined their group. He did a double take when he sat down in the same row as Gil, but with an aisle between them. Jared watched the two well dressed men enter the front seating area, shake hands with his bosses, then sit with them for a minute. 

After a short discussion, one of the men walked past the accountants and sat three rows behind them. The second man stayed a couple rows in front of them. This plane was the same size as the other one, a larger executive craft, but it was designed differently. The round tables were only up front, so there was nothing back by the accountant’s to use for work. Jared figured they would have to do a crash course upon arrival for whatever the hell his bosses wanted him to handle. 

As the plane closed up and began to back out, Jared began to feel boxed in. Was this additional security for ‘him’? Even though he had plenty of breathing room on the spacious executive craft, the oppressive weight of feeling surrounded by watchful disapproving eyes couldn’t be ignored. Jared realized he’d have to be very careful about sneaking any texts.

***

Jensen glanced at his watch. It was now a quarter to one and Jared’s locator dot had been over Chicago for thirty minutes. He waited for something, anything. Finally, the phone vibrated and Jensen leaned forward to check his text. ‘Understood. Landing. No fucking idea until your message. I love you. Please be careful. I’m so sorry this is my fault for even being here. Don’t let any of you get hurt.’ 

Jensen sighed heavily. His lover had received his messages right about when they landed thirty minutes ago. Naturally, Jared was trying to absorb the blame for this, somehow, and redirect Jensen’s energy toward his own safety. He shook his head. JD sat in front him, looking hopeful, “That our kid?” Jensen nodded. He took his eyes from Jared’s words and finally looked up at his friend, “Yeah, he’s aware...and he’s trying to tell ‘me’ that he’s sorry about all this and tell ‘me’ that none of you, nor I, are to get hurt.” 

Morgan smiled, “That sounds like the cute accountant we know. Is that all?” Jensen answered, “Yeah,” then hesitated, “it can’t be easy for him to text me without them knowing. Jesus, I hope they don’t catch him.” A few minutes later, one of the team announced he had video from the Chicago airport executive terminal. Jensen and JD moved quickly back into the semi-circle they had formed before. 

The detective explained he’d been scrolling through video from the time Jared’s plane landed, and he’d finally found him. He started the feedback, while everyone watched Jared’s entourage get off the plane. Jensen peered at Jared’s face, closely, trying to get a feel for the young man’s mood. The camera’s were obviously HD, but there was still a tiny bit of distortion. Jared seemed nervous but determined. The millionaire’s went one way, the accountants another. 

Switching camera views for the next thirty minutes, detectives were able to follow most of Jared’s, Gil’s, and the murder suspect’s movements throughout the small wing of the airport. They had different views going on different laptops. One image of Gil was good enough to send through the Facial Recognition program and await his record. In the meantime, they watched the millionaire’s meet with a group of other men in a lounge. They tried to run records on any of them that were good quality video. 

Jensen could tell Jared was a bit at the end of his rope with the new accountant. His lover was usually openly friendly and warm with everybody, but he seemed to be walking around with his back to Gil most of the time. Jared’s stiff shoulders told Jensen he was probably afraid, but focused, and the man following him around wasn’t helping. There was something about him Jared didn’t like. 

“Christ, the annoying fuck follows him everywhere,” Morgan bitched, as the two men exchanged a knowing glance and returned to watch more video. Jared went into the restroom, followed by the other accountant. Jensen’s insides twisted as he watched the millionaire’s enter the restroom too. First, the new accountant came out, looking upset, then no one else exited. 

“Fucking Christ,” Jensen’s impatience soared. He got up and paced a small circle while they all waited. Morgan couldn’t blame him. The group had no idea if they were roughing Jared up, trying to intimidate him, or worse. Just as the suspects came out of the restroom together, Jensen’s phone vibrated. He took his eyes off the video long enough to look at his phone. It was another text from Jared. 

‘He’s alive,’ Jensen’s thoughts registered, as he opened the text. ‘They took my work phone, but they don’t know I still have this one. Getting on a new plane at Gate 3. They won’t tell me why we changed planes or where we are going. They think I don’t know it’s Ottawa. Murray is hiding things from Barr’ 

Jared’s text had been sent quickly, before he could finish. Jensen guessed he must have sent it from inside the restroom and had almost been caught by the annoying piece of crap accountant that had just walked back into the restroom on camera. Jensen watched the video, while reading the text back to the group. 

Banks piped in, “Damian was working on exactly that before he disappeared. Murray was getting phone calls and having meetings on his own, but Damian didn’t have time to pinpoint what he was doing. He suspected the partners were solid to a point, but then Murray decided to start up some kind of extra schemes on the side.” 

Jensen stewed over this, then he shared with the group something Jared had told him the night before, “When Jared was confronted by Murray after work the other night, he mentioned there were some special deals that only Reiner could do because the other end of the parties wouldn’t deal with anyone else. That’s why Murray was so pissed to lose him for this trip.” Another detective commented, “Well, they’re gonna have to use ‘him’. What if they don’t accept Jared?” 

Morgan gave his detective a stern look, accompanied with a heavy sigh. The officer looked sheepish, like he probably shouldn’t have dropped that ball, but the cop next to him argued in his defense, “Hey I get it,” but then looked at Jensen, “and believe me we’re worried about him too...but we’re just blowing ‘what if’s’ here...they very well could accept him, and we most likely can grab him out of there before shit goes down...but if they don’t, then we need to escalate our extraction.”

Banks pointed to one of the screens, “Hits on your profiles.” Jensen continued to watch the video screen, as the rest of the team turned to look at records on the people they had run. JD watched with him, as Jared went into the boarding area and waited by the attendant while their id’s were checked. When Jared and the other accountant followed their bosses into the walkway on the ground and up the steps, another two men in full suits joined their group from behind. 

Jensen clicked the laptop quickly to freeze the video. Morgan leaned closer. Jensen glanced at JD, “Who the fuck are they?” The detective who had set up the video looked back at the screen and tried to blow up the two newcomers for them. They got the least distorted pictures as they could, then sent them to their program. Morgan sighed, “We’ll know soon.” He glanced at Jensen, “Where’s the kid now?” 

Jensen checked his phone and showed it to JD. The older man said, “He’s passing Placid, almost over Toronto. “Hey, they burnt thirty five minutes in Chicago. If we do a fifteen minute refuel and push it, we’ll be a little closer.” Jensen sat back and nodded. This was at least one good thing. It was a little better than three hours. 

Jensen rested his chin in his hand, while he listened to his team list the records of the other men. Jared’s new accounting partner had some juvenile offenses, but he’d only been involved in one indictment as an adult and it was for a former employer. Funny how it had been another known business associate of Barron’s that had been prosecuted and found guilty of racketeering, laundering and drug sales. 

Gil had been released and since then had worked for a couple other associate firms with nothing else on his record but a speeding ticket. “He’s company,” Morgan grumbled, to which Jensen agreed, “Mmhm...Jared isn’t that warm with him, you can see it on video. He probably senses an annoying kiss ass busy body. Reiner used to do that. He was a weasel, obviously.” Morgan responded, “Kid’s got a good sense for the weasel’s.” 

The other two hits came back and soon the whole team had the background on who JD named Dick A and Dick B. The men turned out to be heaters, or hitman. They had multiple names on file, and worked only for rich organized players as contract employees. They were bouncers, security and heavy hands. Banks said, “They’re mentioned in Damian’s notes of Ottawa so they must be at every one of the big deals. They probably do whatever you hire them to do. I doubt they make mistakes.” 

Jensen grumbled, “We need to get ‘em off Jared somehow.” The other officers agreed. Scott asked, “You thinking a distraction, boss?” Jensen stewed over it for a moment. He finally ordered, “Call Ottawa PD back and send ‘em the video and hits. See what they’ve got on them. If we need to get those guns to leave their post, maybe they’ll know how. Hell, they’ve probably got their own files on every one of these thugs.”

Jensen’s phone vibrated once again as he was just moving back to his seat. He stopped, then quickly knelt next to the table again and showed his detectives the screen. One of detectives quickly started plugging information from the text into his laptop. The others looked confused. Morgan leaned over the back of Jensen for a closer look, “I’ll be damned, is that what I think it is?” 

Jensen smirked with pride and worry at the same time, “It’s an ID number off a plane. Jared’s giving it to us to look up the flight plan. They still must be keeping him in the dark on where they’re going.” The flight plan took a couple minutes to appear through a special program. When it popped up, the route showed a scheduled arrival with the Gatineau private executive airport, fifty miles northeast of Ottawa International. 

“Those little shits,” Banks exclaimed. Jensen watched his detective pull up an enlarged map and show the Canadian cities and airports. It seemed they had decided to land somewhere less public. JD asked him, “Ackles, what did we miss? That’s paying for a whole other charter in the middle of this charter. Why would they do that? For caution, or did we miss something?” 

Jensen thought it over. He and Morgan were definitely on the same wavelength. Banks checked his notes and confirmed, “Jensen, according to Damien’s info, they landed at Ottawa International all three times he went there. This is definitely an oddity for them.” Jensen looked at JD, silent thoughts running between them.

“I specifically ordered my team to shut the phones off in the office before they made entry,” Morgan started, “nobody would have been able to call them...and Bryan isn’t around so it wouldn’t be him.” Jensen added, “Then it has to be the airport. Not our flight because the dispatchers are specific to law enforcement, but the first guy I talked to.” 

Morgan bitched angrily, “Fucker could have called ‘em and sang about us asking questions.” Jensen agreed. “Or,” Jensen offered, “the shitheads called the tower to tell them not to give out their flight path, and at that point the dispatcher confessed he’d already talked to me. He’s probably scared of them, just like everybody else.” Jeff sighed. He thought for a few seconds, “So, they either suspect, or they know we ‘could’ possibly be coming, but they’re not sure. They don’t know we have a warrant, that’s for sure...and they’re nervous so they added their security team to shield them if we show up.” 

Jensen further listened as one of his detectives communicated with Ottawa. The links to video feed were exchanged, in addition to the pictures and rap sheets of the accomplices. Ottawa returned with their own compilation of information. They had been watching the hired security men for a year, and Jared’s fellow accountant had been on their radar with Barron’s other associates before. Barron and Murray seemed to have huge networking abilities with other partners who traded millions of pounds of drugs, weapons and kidnapped humans. They weren’t going to go down easy. 

After conferring with their new Canadian partners, Jensen felt the plane descending. ‘Fucking finally,’ he bitched to himself. The group disconnected and went back to their seats to buckle in for landing in Chicago. Jensen reminded them he was buying them food. After shaking his head at the many comments about padding their choices and getting the most expensive thing you could find, Jensen looked at his phone again. 

He rubbed his thumb over Jared’s messages, then he stared out his window, thinking again about how much the younger man had changed his life.


	19. CHAPTER NINETEEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is full of action. Here we reach Ottawa and things escalate to a final dangerous point. Danger for Jared, but he gets some digs in and a major payback move before he gets hurt, badly. If you love the Jared character, prepare yourself. He’s gonna get whumped a LOT. Jensen busts his ass to save him, of course. 
> 
> Gil will annoy you and Jared’s bosses are just plain mean, mean, mean. There are a couple twists, some surprises, but lots of angst and suspense until we finally get to the end. This was a rollercoaster piece to edit. I never intend to leave people hanging, but it just wasn’t where I wanted so it took longer. I hope it’s worth the wait. :0)

CHAPTER NINETEEN 

Jared had to wait almost an hour into the flight before the man sitting behind him finally went to the restroom. With Gil asleep, it was the only opportunity Jared was going to get to take out his phone and text the plane’s ID number to Jensen. The number had been staring at him from an aluminum plate right under his window but he couldn’t do anything about it until now. 

Once that was done, Jared slid his phone back into his suit jacket inner pocket. He noticed Gil stirring. Jared pulled out the sugar overload of treats from the last stop and started to enjoy them. If this was his last meal, it was going to be gummies, chocolate and grape soda. When Gil glanced his way, Jared feigned ‘Mr. Friendly’ and offered to share, but the accountant waved him off with a ‘no thanks’. 

The man in the suit came from the restroom and planted himself at one of the tables up front. The second man went into the restroom, at that point. Jared watched the one that had been sitting behind him sit stoically without speaking to either of his bosses. When the second one came out, he walked back to sit two rows behind Jared like the other one had done. Jared wondered what the one behind would do if he offered him a chocolate covered gummy. 

Gil motioned for a game of cards, so Jared accepted. He found some wipe packets in the seat pocket and cleaned the sugar from his hands. The two accountants scooted to the interior seats and played on a portable table that Gil found in the back. They played for the next hour. Jared glanced at his bosses, noticing they weren’t yet having that conversation about the deals he’d blurted out. He figured they probably decided they weren’t gonna get into it in front of the guard. 

The windows outside had miles of beautiful scenery. Jared knew the path to Ottawa included Great Lakes, Toronto and Montreal. He had no clue where they were, at any given moment, but at least it was pretty. ‘Another plus,’ his mental snarkiness decided to comment, ‘sugar treats and great scenery...what a way to go.’ Jared knew his mental humor was ridiculous, but his mind had nowhere else to go in trying to deal with his terrifying situation. It was trying. 

When they felt the plane start to descend, the accountants put away the card game and returned to their seats. Jared downed the last two drops of his soda and stuffed his trash into his laptop bag to throw away later. He buckled his seatbelt and thought about what the hell was coming. 

***

Chicago went quick. Jensen’s team grabbed packaged sub’s and anything else they wanted within minutes. Morgan commented the deli stand was probably gonna shut down for the rest of the day after making that many sales in so short of a time. They returned to the plane within twenty minutes. Not the fifteen Jensen had hoped for, but it was still good. 

Their pilot received clearance and took off with a slightly different heading that would shave off about forty minutes of time. The men were in agreement they should still head for Ottawa because of Damien’s intel. The informant had been blindfolded on the first two trips, but not on the third. He had loose descriptions of an office that smelled old and musty with red carpet, and sounds of a shipyard or port on a video. He wasn’t aloud to see the video, but he thought the bosses were watching it while some kind of bidding was taking place.

Ottawa PD took this information and picked out some matching locations that made sense. They were sending four vans to meet Jensen’s team, plus a backup team to Gatineau so everyone had surveillance on Jared’s situation. An abundance of local officers would be at their disposal. “Fuckin’ sweet,” Morgan exclaimed. Jensen had to agree, the cooperation was impressive. Multi-jurisdictional operations could be difficult, but he was sure the judge’s involvement had been a tremendous help.

Jensen checked Jared’s location and saw the red dot passing just over Ottawa. Jensen sat silently while he imagined Jared in a smooth transition from plane to vehicle, then to Ottawa and to the meetings. He had to picture it nice and smooth, otherwise he’d go crazy. Being two hours behind was fucking killing him already. 

“He landing?” JD’s voice broke through Jensen’s anxiety fest. Jensen nodded, then glanced down again, “Yeah. They’re over Ottawa. Gatineau isn’t even separate on this app.” Jensen sighed and braced his cheek in his hand, supported by his elbow. He forced himself to stay calm. There was nothing he could do. 

Morgan slapped him on the knee, then went to challenge a few of his officers to some poker. Jensen watched the ridiculous little bags of peanuts being broken apart and their contents used as tokens. He had to admit, listening to the arguments, insults and boisterous cheers when Morgan lost a round were quite entertaining. It was passed the time, and kept Jensen from exploding with panic. 

***

Jared tried to remind himself over and over that Jensen was close behind him. All he needed to do was be the numbers guy. They landed at a smaller airport and were escorted to a couple large black SUV’s. The accountants sat in the second row of one of the vehicles. One of the security men sat behind them on a third bench. The millionaires got into the other SUV with the second security man. 

The drive was at least forty minutes. They passed over a couple bridges and circled up a hill before parking at a huge cathedral. When they were prompted to get out of the car, Jared saw several other large SUV’s and Town car’s nearby. The accountants were allowed to get their things and followed their bosses inside. Once inside, Jared and Gil waited until Murray and Barron motioned for them on where to go. 

They went up some stairs to the third floor and entered a huge room with a long oval table. Attached to the room was a large office with old style ornate furniture and red carpet. The accountants were told to set up their laptops and be ready for transactions and figures that would be needed on a whim, as proceedings took place. This process was similar to Tallahassee, Jared informed Gil. 

***

Ottawa PD sent them some sketchy surveillance video of Barron and Murray exiting their plane in Gatineau and getting into large SUV’s. The license plates matched the vehicles to some of the other suspects in their own investigations. Everyone could plainly see that Jared was in one piece, but still being shadowed by one of the security men. When the vehicles exited the parking lot, they headed toward Ottawa. 

Jensen was advised by an Ottawa sergeant that the caravan had been followed to Parliament Hill, then surveillance was pulled away in order to avoid detection. There were dozens of camera’s in the historical areas, but none of them indicated any of the buildings were being used. A drone flying over the area was processing some digital pictures for them, as they spoke. 

After a few minutes, the sergeant sent Jensen’s team several pictures of over twenty SUV’s and large sedans parked behind an old Cathedral adjacent to the Hill. He told Jensen their team would set up at this point and others would meet them at the airport. 

***

Gil went somewhere. Jared assumed to the restroom. Since they had open internet and were ready, he took a few minutes to look at the paintings and books that filled the room. As he passed by another connecting door, Jared heard his bosses’ voices inside. It seemed they were having that heated discussion now. Jared stood with his back to the crack of the door, hoping he looked casual, and not like he was eavesdropping.

Murray was defending his actions, “It’s not what you think, Robert. Ottawa gets us an additional cut if we hit ten or more during the off season. We hit ten, it jumps to a million a piece.” Barron argued in angry disbelief, “Once ‘we’ hit ten? There isn’t a ‘we’ in here, Chase, ‘you’ took it for yourself. You upped our ante and you didn’t tell me? And what the hell was Reiner’s cut? How fucking long have you two been doing this?” 

Murray sighed again, “Reiner’s cut was only ten percent. I kept the rest.” Barron stared hard at his business partner, waiting for Murray to answer the rest of his question. “Three seasons,” Murray finally confessed. Barron was too pissed to even shake his head, “Three. You’ve kept this hidden for three years? And what about Reiner’s bullshit?” Murray sighed, “I knew he was a fuckup, Jared’s not wrong about that, but he’d been oiled into the deals and there wasn’t anywhere to keep him in between. It was ten million plus, Robert.” 

Barron’s temper flared, “And you needed that so bad on top of the hundred you already earn? You risked our hides with this, Chase, and it was for pennies. What if your useless rat squeals to some cop to get himself out?” Murray answered, “I’ve never taken from you, Robert. It was only extra side deals...and as far as the so called ‘rat’, that’s been taken care of...just like Damien, it’s probably done by now.” 

Jared’s eyes widened. He glanced at the door and rushed to his suit jacket on a chair to grab his phone. ‘J, They’re going to kill Reiner in jail. J’ He walked back to listen as Barron chewed Murray out further, “Which layers more suspicion on our asses...like your little obsession about finding something out last night that we could have just as easily asked our accountant about, instead. He told us the truth and you went and put a dead body on the news for nothing.” 

‘Jesus,’ Jared thought. They talked about killing people like they were bars of soap. His brain scrambled to figure out what piece of merchandise could be worth a million dollars a ‘piece’ and what it meant to grab ‘ten’ or more of ‘them’, as Murray’s voice dropped to sound sheepish, “I had to find out for us, Robert. Reiner got phone time and he called me about Jared seeing a cop. His cellmate was up for bail so I arranged it and gave him a job.” 

Barron’s voice dropped to a deep threatening tone, as he stepped into Murray’s personal space, “You’re not supposed to make deals on the side without conferring with me. Now I see the real reason why you kept that bumbling idiot on as our accountant all this time. And because you’ve done that, now ‘you’re’ the bumbling idiot. You knew he was a snake. We could have handled him another way, but you were afraid of losing your precious tip money...and now, you’ve off’d another rat because that’s all you seem to deal with are rats! Why can’t you just stick with the program, Chase? Stick with the refined business lot we deal with...sophistication, maturity...not common street thugs, for chrissakes!” 

Murray whined, “I was trying to clean the trail. I know it was risky. There aren’t anymore loose ends now.” The millionaire paused for several seconds until Barron sighed with his response, “Except for Jared.” The lining of Jared’s stomach fell out of his feet as the deafening silence after that statement roared through his brain. Thoughts of ‘They’re going to kill me’ screeched over and over again. 

Barron actually sounded regretful, “It’s quite a loss to the world, he’s brilliant and he’s made us more successful. I was hoping to let him go on his merry way, but...if you need him to make this side deal work today, then he’s gonna see things he won’t be able to accept. Hell, he’s gonna see some of it anyway. He’s too smart not to.” 

Murray agreed, “I know. We’ll do it quick, no pain.” Jared’s panicky breathing caused him to miss the question his lover had sent a few seconds ago. He looked down, as he heard more footsteps and voices coming up the stairs. ‘Fuck,’ he thought, as he typed what he could get out before moving back to the desk. 

‘Fucking god,’ Jared’s thoughts went haywire. He really needed to calm down. He sat down quickly, before he passed out, and willed the blood to return to his head so he could at least perform. As long as he was useful, they didn’t have any reason to kill him. He concentrated on not hyperventilating and reminded himself Jensen was not far. 

Barron and Murray came out of the small side office and continued talking like they had no concerns in the world. They glanced at Jared, but didn’t seem to notice he was sweating, shaking, ‘and’ struggling not to hyperventilate. Jared mentally celebrated. He really must be getting this non-emotional poker face shit down. 

“So,” Barron continued, “tell me who the main runners are in this.” Murray answered, “Greibus and Thicke. They hate change.” Barron nodded, “Agreed. Well, they’re gonna have change so if today doesn’t work for that part, then cancel your arrangement.” Murray agreed, “No problem. I’ll need Jared, though.” Barron sighed, “I can’t have him leaving in the middle of our summit, we need him.” Murray answered, “They’ll wait and come here.” 

The two millionaires entered the adjacent meeting room and began greeting others like them. Gil returned and looked way too excited for Jared to do anything other than stare at him in disbelief as the man rambled on, “Hey, I ran into two friends I haven’t seen in a year. It was so great to see them. They’ve got families now, it’s so cool. So, how’s it going in here?” 

Gil’s face changed from joy to confusion when he noticed the resentful look in his fellow accountant’s eyes. “Jared, what’s wrong?” Gil came and sat next to Jared, pulling up a chair to face him over the desk. Jared sat motionless for a full minute, trying to find his self control. Gil acted like they were working for Disney. He had to know...after all this time, he had to. 

So, these fuckers were gonna use him today, then kill him. ‘Well, fuck them,’ Jared drew on his anger. Maybe he should fuck up all their off shore accounts and wire millions to little charities everywhere. That would be a good way to end, wouldn’t it? And then there was Gil. He would go on, be the choice one who turned a blind eye and kissed their asses. 

Jared’s anger needed to vent while the other accountant happened to be sitting right before him, “I don’t get how you can waltz in here like we’re doing books for normal people, Gil, when you know damn well who these people are. You’ve been with them practically two decades, and I know you’ve seen things that you somehow convince yourself ‘not’ to admit you see.“ 

Gil looked stunned for a second, then went from defensive anger to sadness, then landed somewhere between guilt and fear. He really wanted Jared to like him, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen. Gil suddenly leaned close to whisper frantically, “Jared, please tell me you haven’t ratted them or called the cops in any way.” Jared argued, “No, I haven’t done anything. I’m just asking...between us. I really don’t get it, Gil. I don’t get working for these people, now that I know what they’re into...how can you stomach it?” 

Gil looked behind him, then down with a sigh. He looked up and leaned even closer to Jared, “You grow up in this world, you stay in. You can still become whatever you want, but ultimately you have no say if they need you for something.” Jared searched the man’s eyes, trying to understand, “But, you took an oath in front of financial experts and got your license. You can work wherever you want. What happened to integrity?” 

Gil looked back again, before practically pleading for Jared’s acceptance, “My parents were killed and it left me and my brother and sisters. My brother tried to get us away from them and I never saw him again. I was working for a gas station for awhile. My sisters took jobs as maids and cooks. I had nothing. When I saw how they could help us, I let them pay for my college and get me on my feet. After I graduated, they gave me a job. The whole family, Jared, the whole family got better.” 

Jared tried to absorb that kind of a situation. He still couldn’t see accepting support from somewhere dirty. He realized he was right not to trust Gil. The man had just admitted one of his biggest personality traits. If you dangled a carrot in front of him, he would take it. He didn’t care where it was from. 

Gil struggled to defend himself further, “Jared, as long as I do good for these people, everybody lives comfortably. Believe me, if I ever thought to betray them, they wouldn’t hit me between the eyes, they’d go for where it hurts the most. And it’s really not that bad. You’re just doing books, it’s not like you’re the bad guy calling the shots.” 

Jared snorted in disbelief and shook his head. This was unfuckingbelievable. Gil had almost sounded like he believed himself. Within seconds, Jared’s thoughts were derailed when their bosses walked in. Gil glanced at Jared, but he couldn’t read whether the man had eased his judgement against him, or not. Jared was too focused on the millionaire’s for now. 

Barron announced, “Jared, you’ll take the lead. Gil, you’re watching and learning for now. Jared, they’re going to make offers which we’re going to refuse, then negotiate as we get closer. I need you to run the numbers that you hear and maintain constant eye contact with me or Chase at all times. I want you to plug mock investments into their stocks and monitor all fluctuations. Test out what they claim. See if they have the juice to come through. If you see something that doesn’t match what they’re offering, you shake your head. If you see something that does match, nod. Before Murray and I agree to something, we’ll be relying on you to tell us whether it has the best benefit for us or for them. This process is similar to Tallahassee, but it’s dealing with much more depth and there are intricate untrustworthy personalities involved.” ‘Like you,’ Jared’s mind comment. 

Murray had the nerve to wink at Jared, “You’re the best, Jared, we know this. I’m confident we’ll walk out of here in a couple hours with more money than any of those other chaps in there.” Jared managed to fake a half smile with didn’t match his eyes. “Okay,” he responded. ‘How dare you fuckers act like you’re on a picnic,’ he thought. 

Gil moved to sit right next to Jared. The process began and it was intense. Jared’s fingers flew, his eyes glancing between his bosses and the laptop screen, as they went. Everyone had provided their bidding accounts, stock information and credit upon commencement of the meeting. Due to Gil’s experience, he was able to follow along, but he knew he would have to work on his speed. Jared was amazing at this. 

After moving numbers between investment opportunities at breakneck speed, then backing before pushing ‘save’ when he saw a better deal, Jared had to admit this was incredibly stimulating. He would love to do this again for nicer people. Yes, he was good. He didn’t think he was brilliant, or advanced, but he definitely clicked with this kind of work. The fact that he was making money for these assholes was probably why his gut felt like it was twisting into knots, but he knew staying alive was the whole point of this ‘playing along’. Jensen was coming. 

The first lengthy session ended with an agreement, as Jared sat back and took a moment to rest. This was fucking exhausting. Gil went to watch the two lawyers put things into writing, then all parties signed. Next, everyone sat down and commenced another session. Jared was on, once again. 

“Jared, I don’t know if I can do this that fast,” Gil blurted out, as he watched Jared enter information and wait, keeping his eyes on his bosses. Jared wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. ‘I don’t fucking care? Good luck to you, anyway? Call me with questions but I probably won’t answer?’ He really had no idea, so he kept working. 

The second session ended and Jared was even more exhausted. It had been another forty five minutes. Jensen ‘had’ to be close, by now. Jared took a moment to walk around. He downed a water bottle and tried to look casual while stealing glances out the narrow office window. He couldn’t see anything but groomed lawns and fields, leading up to a heavy tree line hundreds of yards out. It was unnerving not knowing what to expect. 

***

Jensen’s phone vibrated with a text from Jared. He cursed in frustration, then barked orders for anyone to call Austin jail and advise them of a hit on Reiner. Jensen was ‘not’ happy about this. The last thing he wanted was for Jared to be snitching and risk getting caught. His eyes met Morgan’s and the older man matched his worry, “I don’t wanna know how he found that out.” 

Jensen texted back, ‘We know you’re in a church. Can you tell me where you are inside?’ Jared’s answer was delayed. ‘Third floor. Large office connected to big meeting room. Red carpet.’ Jared’s information would help them coordinate a forced entry, knowing primarily where he was working so they could keep him safe. 

Jensen was chomping at the bit when they finally opened the door of the plane. He led his entourage down the steps and trotted over to the waiting dark vans. Officers in marked PD vests shook their hands. Jensen and Morgan were introduced to the sergeant in charge of the team, who told them to call him Wallace. They got into the first van, with two accompanying lead constables. The rest of Jensen’s team split up between the other vans. 

Everyone was on a joint speaker com so they could brief on the way to the cathedral.   
Officers were already watching the building and awaiting orders. Jensen filled them in that Jared said they were on the third floor. One of the officers knew the inside of the church well, and nodded, “I know where he is.”

The arrest/rescue team convened with Ottawa officers at a post out of site from the cathedral. The Ottawa team handed three high powered scopes to Jensen, Morgan, and one of their detectives, so the visitors could get their own layout of the place. 

According to Ottawa, no one had come out of the place for over ninety minutes. Jensen figured they had to be in their dealmaking meetings, at this point. He checked his phone. Jared had been at this location for two hours now. He hadn’t sent any further messages so Jensen figured the kid had to be working to the bone. Jensen peered hard through the glass, moving from door to door, then between each window. He spent time on the third floor block of narrow windows, wondering if any of the figures moving by them were Jared. He couldn’t tell from this far away. 

The team knew if they rushed an entry on that many people, it would be chaos. In order to get the specific suspects cornered, they would need to get them isolated somehow...preferably away from Jared. Jensen wasn’t too privy on the idea that they couldn’t barge in there and snag Jared out, but he had enough experience to know something like that would put Jared in immediate danger. 

As hard as it was, the teams in the field waited. Within the next forty minutes, some of the vehicles pulled out and left the grounds. Wallace called his other officers and told them to follow everyone who left and find out who they were. This was going to identify an even larger network than they had previously been able to.

Several more vehicles left, then surprisingly another two pulled into the parking lot. Watched closely by Jensen and the rest of the team, the newcomers got out and looked around with definite distrust. They weren’t comfortable. You could tell they hadn’t been there before. Jensen, Wallace and Morgan all wondered if this was the shitty back door group that Murray was using Reiner for. If it was, then Jared was obviously going to have to deal with them in Reiner’s place. 

Jensen prayed silently for his lover to hold it together just awhile longer. ‘I’m coming, love,’ he thought to himself. The newcomer group went inside the church and everything went quiet. 

***

Jared used the restroom and went back to his desk. Murray and Barron came toward him, seemingly in a hurry, then stood behind him. “Log on to Xboat,” Murray ordered, but Jared hesitated in confusion, then looked over his shoulder, “X what?” Murray shouted, “X boat!” Barron interrupted, “Have you lost your marbles, idiot, he’s not Reiner.” 

Murray sighed impatiently, then cursed, “Fuck,” realizing he’d forgotten in the heat of the moment that Jared was too fucking honest and clean to ever have been shown that underground part of their dealings. He looked at Gil’s laptop with renewed hopefulness. “Use his,” Murray ordered Jared, as he pointed to the other accountant’s machine. Jared still looked confused, but slid the other laptop over to him. He looked through the many icons until Murray lost patience again and pointed, “Right there...see that?” 

Jared looked closer at the ‘X’ next to a little boat. When he opened the application the laptop went haywire for a minute, flashing and changing pictures dramatically. ‘Oh fuck,’ Jared thought. He started to realize what he was now looking at and the fear and disgust of it all started to war with each other inside his gut. This was the underground internet. It was all black market illegal activity. Jared knew it existed, but you had to have a certain software to get on it. 

Jared’s heart rate skyrocketed. He swallowed desperately, trying not to puke. Barron commented, “I don’t think this is a good idea, Chase, he’s not gonna make it.” Murray argued, “Yes he will.” As Jared struggled with what he was seeing, he tried to find some way to calm down. There were pop up preview pictures, enticing advertisements for anyone to enter their site, contests, auctions and bidding wars. The worst views were of children. There were live beatings, rapes, or groups of minors in chains just waiting for the highest bidder. 

Jared managed to breathe in between his complaint, “Do you really expect me to handle these deals for you? I can’t condone this.” Barron answered smoothly, “I would never expect you to condone anything, Jared, just do your job and run the numbers. Just think of these as valuable properties with depreciations, upgrades, and incentives. That’s really all you have to do.” 

Jared’s anger returned, and he welcomed it. Something stiffened in his spine and it helped him to control his fear. If he was going to die, his last deal on this earth was not going to be taking part in this filth. He avoided looking at them, “Look, you can kill me right here and hope for the best with your newby who just admitted that he isn’t fast enough to keep up. There is no way I’m going to be able to do this.” 

Quicker than Jared could even register it, Barron ripped Gil out of his chair and threw him to the other side of the room. Murray wedged himself in tight behind Jared and slammed his face into the tarnished oak desk. Pain exploded in his mouth and nose, as Murray twisted his hand in Jared’s hair and slammed his face into the desk a second time. This time, he held it there, pushed down hard against the old fashioned hard wood.

Murray snarled angrily into Jared’s ear, “Now look here, you fucking smart assed little prick, here’s why you’re gonna do it and do it right. Look familiar?” Jared’s mouth and nose were on fire. He gasped in pain, as he managed to look to the side enough to see what Murray was trying to show him. Murray held his phone in front of Jared’s face, so he could see a photo.

‘Ohmygod, no,’ Jared’s panic actually forced a more verbal “No” out of him, unintentionally. The picture was of Jensen. He had his tactical gear on and was looking through some kind of long eyeglass out in an open field somewhere. Jared panicked, knowing the threat to his own life was about to become less important. 

“Is that your main squeeze, Jared?” Murray spoke smoothly, into Jared’s ear as the accounting expert struggled not to choke on the blood he knew was pouring from his nose and mouth. “That’s him, isn’t it. Came all this way just to save your ass.” Murray added, “Must be some piece of ass for him to come this far.” Barron barked out, “Get to the point, Chase, our next meeting is here.” 

Murray pulled Jared’s hair back, forcing him to sit up straight. He picked up the suit jacket from the chair close by and held it ready for him. He waited for Jared to put each of his hands in the sleeves, then slid the jacket up over the accountant’s shoulders with a friendly pat. 

Jared didn’t have any fight in him, at the moment. He felt the liquid dripping down his face. He looked down and saw it hitting his shirt. He tried to wipe his face and pad it with little tissues on the desk, thinking to keep it from flowing. His mind struggled to believe this was really happening. Through the throbbing pain of his bruised and battered face, he pictured Jensen in that photo.

Murray started out in a charming smooth undertone, “So, here’s my point, just to be clear...we have a paid man on your boyfriend’s team. He’s successfully keeping them at bay until this evening. When darkness hits, they’re going to raid the place. It’s a shame we won’t be here. They’ll find some remnants of us, but they won’t know about the escape tunnels, so we’ll be long gone when they finish their search. He’s not going to save you Jared, and you’re going to do what we tell you until we don’t need you to anymore.” 

Jared listened without turning to face any of them. He was in pain, but the pain in his heart was worse, knowing Jensen was in danger. His lover had come to save him and now he was being set up. ‘No,’ Jared sobbed to himself. Whether Jared got himself killed, or not, he couldn’t let that happen. His lip and nose were flowing too faster for the little miniature tissues to keep up, but he still tried. 

Murray continued in his debonair condescending tone, “Now Jared, if you continue the excellent job you’ve been doing today, we might just leave here without having our friend put a bullet into your lover’s brain. How does that sound to you?” Jared struggled to at least nod. He couldn’t answer out loud for fear of showing too much emotion in his voice. 

Murray had the audacity to pat Jared on the back, “Good going, Jared. I knew you’d come through. See that Robert? He’s gonna be fine.” Barron eyed Jared with indifference, then he turned to Gil, “That took too long. They’re downstairs. Gil, please help Jared clean up while we go greet our newest partners. And if you don’t have another tie with you, I guess you can go without this time, since that one is toast. We’ll be starting in fifteen, gentlemen.” 

Both millionaires walked out. As Murray headed for the door, he put his cell phone to his ear and spoke to someone, “Russell, stand by. Don’t take him out yet. We’ll let you know when we’re in the tunnel.” Jared waited until they were gone, then slowly reached into his inner pocket and opened his text screen. He couldn’t believe he could barely move. Murray’s attack had left his shoulder’s and neck stiff from the jolt, not just his face a bloody mess. 

Gil had rushed to the restroom. He returned to the desk with some wet and dry towels, more tissues and a bottle of peroxide. Jared ignored him, at first, and finished a text. His eyes were tearing up from the impact on his nose, so it was hard to see. He figured he’d probably spelled things wrong, but he was frantically trying to get his warning out and he didn’t give a shit about Gil at the moment. 

“What are you doing?” Gil’s terrified sounding question caused Jared to look up. “You can’t fucking do that,” Gil pleaded with him. “Delete it. Don’t send it. I saw some of it, Jared and you can’t send that.” While looking at Gil through hazy vision, Jared pushed ‘send’. Gil’s eyes turned dark with anger, and he started to reach for the device, but something snapped inside of Jared and he reacted. 

Jared stood up instantly and threw a punch right into Gil’s nose. The other accountant’s head snapped back, as he baby stepped backward, trying to catch his balance, but fell on his ass anyway. Jared shook his right hand because ‘fuck, that hurt,’ then approached the fallen man as he scrambled away from him on his back. 

Gil’s hands covered his face, as Jared pulled him up by the collar. Gil desperately tried to pull Jared’s grip off him, allowing Jared to get a good look at the damage. ‘Good,’ he thought to himself, as Gil’s nose and lip were cut and bleeding, now matching his own. Jared pushed him back onto the ground and went back to the desk. He sat down and waited for Gil to pull himself together, wondering where the hell this new inner ‘Jared’ had come from. 

He supposed he was just angry. Nothing was within his control, he was going to lose the best thing he’d just found in his life and die before getting to enjoy it, and little weasels like Gil would move on. Yeah, angry sounded right. “If you tell them, you’re an asshole,” Jared said, then took the peroxide and tried his best to refrain from screaming when he poured it over lips. 

He held gauze over his mouth and nose until it seemed like the blood flow had stopped. By the time the millionaires returned to the meeting room, Gil had moved back to his normal seat and cleaned himself up a bit. He sat by Jared but with a few cautionary feet between them. Gil didn’t say anything about the phone yet, so Jared hoped for the best from here. 

***

Jensen waited in the silence of the field, hearing only birds and the low hum of voices from the teams. He had used the time to study all of them. You couldn’t stop the cop tactics, nor the assessment of other people, even between other cops. The decision had been made to wait two hours until dark. They would sneak up to the church and come in from multiple sides. Jensen thought it made sense, but he wished he didn’t have a gnawing feeling in his gut again that something wasn’t quite right. 

Jeff came over to him, leaning against a tree with his scope. “What’s eating you?” JD knew him better than anyone. Jensen glanced at the teams, then shook his head, “I don’t know yet.” He looked forward, but moved his eyes subtly over to one of the Ottawa men who had been using his phone quite a bit. “Texty little fucker, ain’t he,” Morgan muttered, as Jensen realized that was what had been bothering him. They were on a serious operation, and for some reason that officer didn’t seem to be on the same page. 

“Yes, he is,” Jensen answered. His gaze flickered to the Ottawa sergeant who was walking down the line of his team and moving back and forth between Jensen and his own people. The sergeant had been on the phone, too, but it was obviously to check on the id’s of people who had left the church. Jensen’s phone vibrated. He looked down in surprise, then focused on the screen to read the latest text from Jared.

“JD,” the heightened sound of warning in Jensen’s voice had less to do with the information in the text, as it did Jared’s panicky style. He moved closer to Morgan and turned the phone so they could read it simultaneously. Jared had misspelled some words. His assuredness seemed gone, like he was rushed and afraid.

‘Murray has a picture of you out ther, if I don’t wrk black markt, a cop named Russell is goin to kil you, they know you are outside, they are taking escape tunnels befordark, i hav to help themor he will kill you, please don’t let him hurt you, have to know you are ok, imsorry i don’t want to let them do this...its people, too many people...iwon’t help them if you are safe.’ 

Jensen’s angry, “FUCK” barely preceded Morgan’s grumbled, “mother fucking cock sucking shitbag.” Both sergeants exchanged a quick glance of understanding, then turned to the Ottawa officer with the cell phone. They walked toward him, seeing him back away a few steps when he noticed their focus was on him. The sergeants drew their weapons, confusing the hell out of everybody in the rest of the bunch. 

The officer froze, slowly raising his hands up half way. He looked between them, confused but not quite as confused as a normal honest person might be. Jensen’s team immediately put their hands on their weapons and rushed over to be ready for whatever their sergeants needed from them. Ottawa teams approached with uncertainty, not clear on what was happening. 

Wallace ran toward them, “What the hell are you doing?” Jensen spoke first, “Is that Russell?” Jensen nodded his head in the direction of the man with the cell phone and the Ottawa sergeant looked over at him, “Yes it is, so?” Wallace turned back to Jensen in confusion, so Jensen explained, “He’s working for Murray and Barron. There should be a picture of me on his phone. The fuckers threatened Jared with it to make him do some black market shit. They’re using escape tunnels to leave long before we enter tonight. This motherfucker is taking orders from them.”

Everyone turned on the officer called Russell and took his weapon from him. Pissed off comments and threats came from several of the fellow detectives, as Wallace grabbed Russell’s phone and scrolled through it. He brought it to Jensen so he could see the photo. Jensen’s lip curled in anger, as he stepped toward Russell and pushed him hard against a tree. 

Officer’s stood close, but didn’t interfere. They certainly didn’t have a problem with it. “You son of a bitch,” Jensen threatened, “if anything happens to the innocent man inside I’m coming back for you.” Jensen slammed the man hard against the tree once again, then turned and quickly put a safe distance between them. JD stayed with him, while the Ottawa officers cuffed their former partner and took him roughly to the back of a van. 

Jensen tried to control his protective anger. This man had almost gotten Jared killed and it took everything Jensen had in him to keep from gutting the bastard. It was enough to know Jared had been threatened with his death if he didn’t perform some atrocity for them inside. 

“We go in now,” Jensen announced to his team, “we can’t wait, they know we’re here. Jared’s losing it, which means they’re doing things he can’t stomach and if he can’t, then they’ll kill him.” Nobody argued. His tone left no room for discussion, anyway. Wallace opened up several maps of the church’s grounds on the hood of one of the vans. “Here,” he said, motioning for the other sergeants and detectives to come over. 

They pulled one map to the top, that included the four secret tunnels Jared had mentioned. There was one tunnel that came out near the Ottawa River banks, with nearby access to freeways, and it made the most sense that they would use it to get out. The other three tunnels came out in places that didn’t leave them any access to roads, or other means to get away.

***

Jared didn’t check his phone again. He had to believe Jensen had seen his message and taken precautions. That’s all that mattered. Jared knew Gil could still betray him, but he couldn’t do anything about that now. The meeting began and it was the same process as before. His asshole bosses expected him to run numbers back and forth, compare investment opportunities, to choose the most lucrative path for them. 

The screen was flooded with bids and propositions. The poisonous feel of what they were doing was interfering with Jared’s rhythm. He tried to ignore it, but it was right in front of him. ‘They fucking own them,’ he thought to himself. ‘They own them all.’ The speed at which bids were posted was astounding. Jared had no idea there were this many disgusting child molesters and torturous evil people on the same planet. 

The rich men in suits sat around the table and actually laughed while making little mocking pot shots at each other’s inventory. They threw comparisons back and forth, belittled each other, then laughed as one’s showcase possession would beat one of the others. Jared heard them open another video feed from inside the meeting room. There were sounds of a shipyard, the ‘ding’ of buoys and some large motor like the sound of a crane. 

Jared waited for further instruction, sickened by his association and looking for any avenue he could find that would put a wrench in their process. He glanced over and saw his bosses focused with knowing grins on the computer screen he couldn’t see. He watched the men in the other room light up with glee when the sounds of something like steel doors opened and chains dragged on the ground. 

Then he heard voices. There were dozens of them, some screams and sobbing. Jared could only assume they had opened some kind of shipping containers and were unloading some new ‘stock.’ His own eyes threatened to well up when he heard the way the adults in the other room were talking about them. They were children, for chrissakes.

Jared shook his head when the group at the table discussed the shapely forms of some of the young girls and boys on their screen. They talked about potential and defects. They talked about how much they would start the auction at after they were cleaned up. Murray called someone and told them to “spray off the younger one in green and hold her up to the cam for a second”. 

The newest arrivals to the meeting asked where the bathroom was. Barron offered for Gil to go lead the men there. As soon as Gil left the room, Jared realized he had a chance to do something about this. He knew Jensen was trying, but Jared had accepted that he may not make it out of this. In case he didn’t, he knew damn well he could leave Jensen with tangible evidence of ip addresses, names, monikers, account numbers and pictures of all the victims. He could also hurt these people where it hurt, astronomically, if he hurried. 

Jared typed like a mad man, glancing at the hallway every few seconds. He organized all of the transactions from the last few hours into one file. He attached all of the pictures and short videos of the bidding wars. He meant to search for the ip address on the laptop in the meeting room and send the video link, but he didn’t have the freedom nor the time. 

He was sure that all of the existing files he was sending were linked to that shipping yard video, so hopefully law enforcement could identify it that way. Jared opened the outlook and attached the file to an email. He sent the whole thing to his home account, with a cc copy to Jensen’s home and work emails. The data made it a huge file, so Jared prayed it would all go through. If it didn’t pass through Jensen’s work server, at least he’d tried for both their home accounts. 

Gil returned before Jared was quite finished with his efforts. His fingers flew, trying to get through the second half of his destruction plot before anyone resumed their dealings. Jared linked himself to every single one of the twenty seven accounts he had used for the day’s transactions, then transferred all of the funds to seven different worldwide non-profit funds very quickly.

Jared didn’t want them to notice this just yet, so he pended the transfer to an hour from now. They all had other accounts that were for daily use, so he hoped to God no one tried to touch these and found out about this before Jensen got here. There were several hundred million dollars in the transfers. They would kill him, for sure, but Jared didn’t even want to think about ‘how’ they would do it.

The millionaire’s reconvened and completed haggling with the latest group of arrivals. These were Reiner’s secret deals. They weren’t happy about Jared doing the transactions, at first, and threatened to leave, but Murray managed to get them to stay. When they had reached agreement, Murray and Barron motioned for Jared to complete the input of final numbers and close the system down. 

Jared closed the black market program, sat back and waited for Gil’s laptop to exit. The other accountant seemed nervous about something. Jared wondered if he was thinking of ratting him out for the phone, but maybe the fact that it wouldn’t sit well with their visitors was holding Gil back. 

Two of the participants from the meeting managed to glide by Jared’s desk on their way out. These had been the two most reluctant to deal without Reiner present. They reminded him of an old vampire movie he’d seen. They glanced down at him and offered a smooth smile, which had a greasy feeling to it. “You must be worth top dollar,” one of them said, “Reiner didn’t work that fast and his numbers had to be redone. How much are they paying you?” 

Jared didn’t respond. His face was still throbbing from his fresh injuries and none of them seemed to notice or care. He was tired, and he hated these people. “Jared’s not for sale, Snip,” Murray smiled mockingly at Jared as he spoke into the back of the other man’s head. Barron added smoothly, “Yes, he’s been quite the asset and we don’t feel like sharing him.” Jared’s eyes darted between them, as they stared at him for another moment, then walked away.

Jared sighed. Gil glanced at the hallway, then whispered to Jared, “They’re going to kill you. Do you think that man outside can rescue you? I don’t want them to hurt you again, Jared, I just can’t get caught, but I’ll help you.” Jared stared at the other accountant for several seconds. He could actually use Gil to find a way out and run for it, but there was something in Gil’s eyes that held Jared at bay. 

Jared tried something out, “These paths they’re talking about. Do you know where they are? If you took me to them, you could come with me and I’m sure my friend would help you too.” Gil smiled in nervous energy. He scooted closer and nodded eagerly, “Yes. I’ll show you where to get into them, but you have to tell me where they’re coming in, then we can meet them there.”

Jared’s thoughts filled with distaste, as he remembered that Gil had told him he never worked here before. This dumb ass wasn’t that smart. He didn’t know shit about the tunnels and was only trying to get information to kiss up and save his own ass. 

Jared busied himself with putting his laptop away, and zipping up the case. He untied his tie and pulled it off, then unbuttoned his top shirt button. The summit meetings were over. His face was hurting. He folded his blood crusted tie and then thought ‘what am I doing’ and threw it in a nearby trash can. 

Gil hovered next to him, annoying as shit. Jared finally bitched at the man, “I don’t fucking know anything about outside, Gil. I have no idea what they’re going to do so quit fucking stalking me.” Gil visibly wilted, disappointed that he wouldn’t have any pertinent information to kiss ass with. 

Jared took his suit jacket off and carried it with his bags over to a couch. He put his things next to him and waited. It would do no good to run. He could only hope Gil would keep his mouth shut about the cell phone so Jensen could still track him. If he found his dead body, then at least he would have something to bury for his parents. 

Jared closed his eyes and imagined how it would feel to lose Jensen. At least he had saved his beautiful lover’s life by warning him. Jared felt tears threaten when he thought about what it was going to do to Jensen if he couldn’t save him. His lover would blame himself. ‘I’m sorry, love,’ Jared’s painful thoughts were interrupted by the return of his favorite dickheads. 

Jared tensed as the millionaire’s approached him, but it was Barron who angrily pulled him up from the couch by his shirt collar. Gil nervously backed up a few feet, eyes darting between them. Barron’s steely voice felt like a sharpened blade slicing through Jared’s insides, as the man gripped his chin hard between his fingers, “What the hell have you done?” 

Barron squeezed tighter, “What the fuck have you done?” Jared’s eyes widened and darted between them. Barron was red faced and pissed, but Murray seemed confused. Jared knew that somehow Barron had found out about the accounts. Already. Fuck, it had been over an hour.

“TELL ME WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” Barron shook the accountant’s face hard, shouting with spittle into his face. Jared knew damn well that any answer was going to be the wrong one, and not what he wanted to hear. Jared tried to speak from his position, Barron’s grip so tight he was forcing Jared to stay on his toes for any relief, “I...dn’t...know...what you’re...talking...about.” 

Barron shouted, “DON’T YOU TELL ME THAT! You’re the ONLY one fucking SMART enough and CRAFTY enough to fuck EVERYTHING up THAT FAST! Now, WHERE IS EVERYONE’S MONEY?” Jared couldn’t answer, even if he wanted to. The rage in Barron’s hold had tightened so hard, it felt like the millionaire’s fingers were piercing the skin. 

Murray’s voice asked in alarm, “What did he do? Robert, what did he do?” Barron answered while keeping his grip on Jared, “Check your accounts from today Chase. Check all the accounts. Our genius here has fucked us over...he fucked EVERYBODY OVER.” Barron kept his grip while the other man quickly checked his phone in a panic. 

“NO,” Murray’s childlike cry almost gave Jared the satisfaction he’d been wanting...almost. The fear of what they were going to do to him was clouding his thoughts. “NO! Nononononononono, this CAN’T be happening! Oh my fucking God, Robert!” Murray looked at his partner, “They’re gonna fucking think it’s us!” 

Barron turned Jared and slammed him back against a book case behind him, hard enough to dislodge several antique books. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?” He slammed him again, Jared crying out as the oak shelves painfully bruised his back.   
“You set us up so not only ‘our’ money’s gone, everyone ‘else’s’ is gone and they’ll blame us.” 

“FUCK,” Murray’s emotional cry would have been comical if Jared hadn’t been dealing with a new set of pain. Barron held him up by his neck until Murray walked briskly over to them and punched Jared in the gut. Barron let him go, as he doubled over and fell to his knees. 

Before Jared was able to get the wind back into his lungs, Murray grabbed Jared’s hair and turned his face up, “We were gonna make it nice and painless, Jared, but that doesn’t apply anymore. You’re going to hurt while you die...and I’ll make it last as long as I can.” Murray punched him under the chin, the force of it knocking Jared back. He landed hitting his head on the bottom shelf of the book case. 

Jared’s jaw exploded in pain, his midriff still struggling to inhale from having the wind knocked out of him a few seconds before. Murray started to pull Jared up by the collar, but Barron stopped him, “Wait. We’re gonna need him to get out of here.” Murray nodded toward Gil, “What about that one?” The panic in Gil’s eyes was priceless. From Jared’s painful position with exploding bruises, cuts and swelling, he could still see it and it irritated the shit out of him. 

Barron argued, “No one cares about him, it’s Jared that cop’s come for...if we need a hostage that’s important to them, it’s this one.” Murray turned back to Jared and sighed, “Fine,” shoving him back onto the floor, “then we’ll kill him after we get out.” No one noticed the sinking look of disappointment as Gil realized no one truly gave a shit about him. 

***

The latest arrivals had just pulled out of the parking lot, so the team knew Jared was finally alone with his bosses and the other accountant. The two added security guys from earlier had even gone. Jensen had chosen to enter the church with the entry team, then take the most likely tunnel outward. He figured if the suspects took the most likely tunnel, he would be only minutes behind Jared. 

His team silently surrounded the church and pried their way through locked doors from all sides. The front parish was the only unlocked set of doors. The team moved in stealth, making no noise, whatsoever. Jensen had seven Ottawa officers with him, three of his own and Wallace. The search was done corner to corner, room after room. They made their way upstairs and completed the second floor. 

Taking the stairs to the third floor was done very carefully. They listened as they stepped, alerted to any sounds of people in the offices or other rooms. The teams came from two different stairwells and made a compartmentalized search of every foot. They finally entered the office chamber that was connected to the huge meeting room.

Jensen stood at the desk where he knew his lover had probably been working moments before. What sparked his concern was the blood on it. There had been something smacked against the wood, which left a chip in the old paint and a slight indentation. This was hard oak. It was a nasty feeling to think Jared might have been beaten and threatened right here.

The other detectives nodded at Jensen, indicating for him to come look at something on the floor. Jensen stepped over and looked, noticing more blood spattered in different directions. It looked like someone had been moving back and forth, dripping, but not flowing heavily like up at the desk. Jensen had to assume that the accountants were hurt, one at the desk and one down here.

It looked like there had been some type of scuffle at the book case, with books strewn on the floor. The rugs were wrinkled and turned up in places, more blood drops on the floor. Someone had been beaten here too, or had a fight. Jensen’s nerves were at their limit not knowing how badly Jared might be hurt. 

***

Jared’s cut hands, elbows and knees were bleeding openly now, some through the tears in his clothing. The sting of his cuts was inflamed by the cold bite in the air. He had dragged ass on the way to the chamber, and just inside of it, attempting to delay their progress. The effort gained him a hard shove down some concrete steps, in retaliation.

Jared cried out when his knees and elbows landed on the stone concrete floor, but he didn’t have more than a second to register his injuries due to his hair being wrenched hard, forcing him to move. He dropped his belongings and scrambled to keep up, as he was propelled through the tunnel. The millionaire’s were pissed, that much was clear, and no matter how much of a dead weight Jared tried to be, they weren’t leaving him here. 

***

Jensen’s team found the tunnel entrance and pulled open the heavy door. After listening for a moment and hearing nothing, they quietly entered the chamber and went down the short stairway. At the bottom of the stairs were Jared’s things. His bags and his suit jacket had been dropped there haphazardly. 

Jensen knew this meant things had gone to hell and a hand basket for the suspects. They weren’t operating on organized cool control any longer, nor were they thinking ahead that they might need the laptop to perform any further business. For them, this was now ‘flee’ mode, any way they could get out, and nothing else mattered. Jensen wasn’t sure what had spooked them, though. Russell hadn’t had the chance. 

Jensen padded the suit jacket until he found Jared’s cell phone. He now had no way to track his lover, once they left the tunnel, so he immediately clicked his Ottawa police radio he’d been loaned. JD answered instantly, “Morgan, go.” Jensen spoke quietly, “You in position?” 

Morgan responded, “I’ve got eyes on the tunnel exit and the lovely Town car that’s waiting. Guess whose in it?” Jensen waited a second, so JD continued, “Channing’s in it, checking his watch every few seconds. He doesn’t know we’re here.” Jensen clicked his response, “They’re comin’ to you, JD. We’re behind them. Do ‘not’ let them take Jared with them, no matter what. They’ll try, he’s their ticket outta here, but something’s changed and they’re in flight mode.” 

Jensen knew, if Jared were to leave with these people, he would be dead the instant they reached safety. He labored over what had happened back in that cathedral office to cause the fights and blood, worried sick that his lover might have taken a stance and pissed them off. When Morgan clicked, “Copy,” Jensen knew with that simple word that Morgan understood all that was unspoken and would not let him down. 

As the interior team moved forward in a strategic pattern, Jensen heard Wallace confirming to his team outside that they were to follow Morgan’s orders. His respect and gratitude for the man amplified tenfold. The Ottawa sergeant had been nothing but helpful and right on task for them, even when one of his own had turned to shit. 

Within the next few minutes, Jensen’s phone vibrated with an unexpected email. He normally ignored such a thing during an operation, but the timing of this one and the fact that it kept repeating with four consecutive long vibrations, caused him to stop and look at it. Jensen opened the account, surprised to see four attachment emails from Jared. 

“What the fuck,” Jensen’s shocked disbelief got the team’s attention. They waited in a crouch for direction, as Wallace inched his way over. The attachments were huge, full of data, too big to be sent as one file, so his firewall had separated them. Jensen glanced up at Wallace, then back down, “It’s from Jared.” 

Wallace stepped closer to study the screen with Jensen, as he opened the first attachment. Jensen scrolled through the information for a few seconds before Wallace blurted out, “Oh, that’s fucking brilliant.” Jensen tried to process what he was seeing, as terror rose inside of him from what this meant for Jared. ‘Jesuschrist, it’s everything,’ Jensen thought, ‘it’s every fucking thing.’ Somehow, his accountant had pulled this all out for them. Maybe this why they were running.

“Several new leads will come from that,” Wallace stated, his respect for Jared’s value obvious, “it’ll nab dozens of arrests and convictions. Save tons of innocent victims.” Jensen sighed. He met Wallace’s eyes and said, “I know,” but he couldn’t match the man’s excitement as he put the phone back in his pocket. Not right now, anyway. 

Wallace seemed to get it and shut down further comment. Jensen commanded, “Let’s go,” then led the team forward once again. The painful knot in his chest was growing. Jared had taken a terrible risk, and Jensen could only deduce that it was because his lover thought he was going to die. Angst over what Jared must be going through plagued his thoughts as they kept moving. 

***

The millionaires stopped suddenly and Jared was pulled from behind into an alcove, held tight against Murray with the man’s hand over his mouth. Jared struggled for breath through his nose, while unsuccessfully trying to control the whimper of pain when Murray’s hand clamped painfully tight over his injured mouth.

“Shut up,” Murray screamed his whispered order into Jared’s ear and shook him. Jared’s hands automatically grabbed at the hand over his mouth, desperate to relieve the pressure. Barron appeared in front of him and grabbed at Jared’s hands. He started to clamp something metal over one of his wrists when Jared reacted to it and kicked outward blindly. 

He struck Barron square in the groin, which sent the millionaire falling on his back. “Ooooh,” Barron growled, rolling to his side and trying to be quiet as pain exploded in his balls and dick. “Fuck...fuckfuckfuck,” Barron ranted. “You son of a bitch. You goddamn son of a bitch,” he whispered, over and over again, trying like hell to recover and force himself to get up. 

Jared continued to struggle with Murray’s grip, ignoring the snarled, “Stop it,” in his ear. He felt something sharp stick into his neck and he froze, struggling for air through his nose. Murray sadistically stuck the blade in further, forcing a scream of pain from Jared, as he pulled on the offending hands over his mouth and whatever instrument that was hurting him. 

“Stop fighting,” the millionaire shouted in a whisper, but Jared’s struggles were a natural reaction to the excruciating agony of Murray’s movements. Murray had a sadistic half grin on his face as he pushed the blade in just a bit more and Jared screamed. It was a rush to torture this kid. Jared sobbed and struggled for breath, as he felt warm liquid slide down his neck. ‘Ohgod,’ was he going to bleed out? Was he dying? Murray had promised him slow and painful, was this it? 

Murray backed the sharp blade off, but the pain was so bad, Jared barely noticed when Barron grabbed his wrists, one by one, and put them into iron cuffs. “Prick,” Barron bitched, as pulled taught on the short chain between Jared’s wrists and stepped back to pull a roll of tape from his suit jacket. 

“Good, Jared,” Murray soothed him in his ear, “I knew you’d see reason. Now, no more kicks like that, or I’ll stab you somewhere else where it’ll hurt like a bitch and bleed nice and steady.” Jared’s brain somehow registered these were probably the cuffs used in the videos he saw of the captor’s and slaves. Murray removed his hand, so Barron could place a thick piece of silver tape over his mouth.

He pushed the tape down to make sure it stuck, which caused a painful cry from Jared, due to the fresh bruises and cuts on his face. Barron leaned in closer, “I’d break your knee caps for that kick, Jared, but we need you to be able to walk for a bit longer. Don’t fuck with me anymore...and if you try and pull this off, I’ll gut you so you bleed out slowly while you still have to walk. This isn’t our first rodeo, kid, and I guarantee you we’ll make you do whatever we want.” 

Murray gripped the back of Jared’s neck and pushed him, as Barron pulled him by the short chain between his cuffs. Jared felt the liquid on his neck starting to cool off, so he knew his neck had stopped bleeding. He felt weakened, but he didn’t know if he was just in shock, or if it was from loss of blood, or maybe the air was thin in this tunnel. He thought about how nice it would have been for Gil to take off running while these two men were ganging up on him, but the other accountant had just stood there...and now he walked beside them, useless and unhelpful. 

Barron and Murray kept glancing back as they went, checking for anyone following. They didn’t think the cops were coming until dusk, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. There was a faint light a few hundred yards in front of them, so they knew they were getting close to the exit. Barron called someone on his cell phone and asked if the coast was clear. He hung up and told Murray, “Car’s outside.” 

They walked a couple hundred feet, then suddenly pulled Jared and Gil into an alcove. Jared was pulled back against Murray by his hair, forcing his head back, as Barron sandwiched himself with Gil right beside him. Everyone froze and listened, as Jared tried to catch his breath through his nose. 

***

Jensen’s team froze when someone stepped on a loose rock and it crumbled loudly. They waited for any sign that they’d been heard by the group in front of them. His team hadn’t used any lights, not wanting to announce their presence, but obviously the group in front of them had them. He could see a small light moving around several hundred yards ahead. 

Wallace’s officers had infrared single lenses, but there weren’t enough for everybody. Jensen’s detectives had to rely on carefully placed footing to be quiet. His lead officer sighed, pissed off at himself that he’d caused the disruption, but no one joined in the blame. Quickly shaking it off, Jensen signaled them to move forward in stealth. 

He knew everyone was antsy, now that they could see they were getting closer. They were in agreement that in order to keep Jared alive, they had to let the suspects ‘think’ they were getting away, just until they could get closer. It was still difficult to be this far and not know what was happening. 

***

The millionaire’s remained frozen for a few minutes, listening. Barron shined his pen light into the tunnel behind them. He looked into the darkness for several seconds and saw nothing. Murray whispered loudly, “There’s nothing there.” Barron continued to search with his light, as he argued, “I heard something.” Murray argued back, “It’s just crumbling, it’s old. Remember they weren’t coming in ‘til dark? That was their plan. Russell made sure they didn’t know about the tunnels.”

Gil suddenly cleared his throat and Jared’s insides twisted. ‘No,’ his mind cried out, as Gil spoke up, “Actually, Sir’s, they do know.” When the millionaire’s looked at him, Gil brightened up, thinking this just might be his opportunity to show his usefulness, kiss ass a little. He glanced at Jared quickly, like he was looking for some type of forgiveness but that wasn’t what he was gonna get. ‘You fucking prick,’ Jared’s eyes spoke volumes. 

Gil continued anyway, “Jared warned them about your snitch on the outside and about the tunnels. I saw him texting...during the meetings.” Barron pulled Gil away from the alcove, turned him and held him by his collar, “We took his phone back in Chicago! How would he be texting?” Gil’s hopefulness weakened, as he swallowed nervously. This wasn’t quite the overwhelming gratitude he had expected, “All I know is he had a phone. I saw him use it in the office. Some of the text were warnings about a Russell person and tunnels and how he couldn’t help you.” 

Barron exchanged a glance with Murray. He angrily shoved Gil a few feet away, then stepped back over to Jared and punched him hard in the stomach. Murray let his captive fall to the floor. Pain exploded instantly, as Jared struggled to breathe through it and forced tiny gulps of air into his lungs through his nose. Before he could recover, Barron kicked him hard in the hip, forcing Jared to cry out behind the tape. 

He balled up, instinctively trying to block his body from any further painful attacks, as Barron grabbed his collar and shook him. “Fucking PRICK,” Barron screamed into Jared’s face, then shoved him back to the ground and raised his foot once again. Murray stopped him mid-kick, “Hold it! If you make him immobile, we can’t use him for leverage. Save it ‘til we get to the plane.” 

Jared didn’t even know what they were saying anymore, as he realized he wasn’t getting enough air. He reached up, instinctively, to pull on the tape, but Murray jerked his cuffed wrists down, “We told you not to fuck with it!” Jared’s anguished panic amplified. He felt his consciousness swimming. His attempts to gasp in air through his nose weren’t working. 

When Jared’s eyes started to roll up, Barron bent over him with impatience and ripped the tape half off of his mouth. He gripped his chin and screamed into his face, “Breathe, you little fuck!” Jared forced himself to suck in the first few difficult gulps of blessed oxygen. His stomach and rib cage hurt so fucking bad, he was sure there must be a hole right through him. 

Barron pushed his chin back, pissed off but at least letting go of his painful grip. Murray snarled into his ear, “Don’t worry, Jared. We’ll let you die when we’re done with you.” Jared continued to force the shallow intakes of air. There was something wrong, he couldn’t get what he needed but he knew he needed to stay conscious. 

When Barron saw Jared had partially recovered, he turned to address the other accountant. Jared’s eyes flicked to Gil. The other accountant had looked so hopeful a moment ago, like he had been about to be rewarded with three gold stars and a trip to the Bahamas, but now he stood worried. Jared wanted to kick him so badly in the face but right now he couldn’t move. 

Barron stepped toward him, as Gil backed up a few feet and Jared had to admit, it felt a bit satisfactory to hear the begging fear in the other accountant’s voice, “I did good right? It’s helpful?” Barron corrected him, in a calm professional voice, but Jared knew it was laced with deadly intent, “No, Gil. No, it really wasn’t good. An hour ago would have been good, but waiting until now was simply...I’m sorry, I just can’t even fathom where you thought waiting to tell us ‘now’ would be considered helpful.” 

Gil’s eyes darted between Barron and Jared. His sudden panic caused him to blurt out any defense he could come up with as he backed up another couple feet, “Because he threatened me. That’s how I got this,” Gil motioned to his bruised face, “I defended you. I told him he shouldn’t be doing it and he attacked me. I couldn’t say anything until I was sure you had him at a disadvantage.” 

Barron stepped into Gil’s personal space. He glanced back at Jared on the ground, up at his partner and back to Gil. Jared knew it was over. He suddenly felt no more anger or resentment because it didn’t matter anymore. Gil was about to die. ‘No,’ Jared’s mind screamed, because the humanitarian in him simply couldn’t stomach this. Barron explained, “I think he’s been at a disadvantage for a long time, Gil. You’ve had plenty of time to share this with us. Do you know what’s the absolute worst trait of any human being?” 

Gil took a pleading step forward, but Barron pushed him back again, “It’s weakness, Gil. Someone without a spine who is too weak to take a stand. I despise it. At least Jared has conviction in his beliefs. I’m going to kill him, but at least you know where he stands and you never have to guess.”

Gil’s widened in more panic. “But,” he started to step back, his eyes darting between Barron and Murray. The millionaire in front of him pulled a gun from his pocket and began screwing a silencer onto the barrel. Gil sobbed, “No!” He looked at Barron with desperation, “Please, no! I can help you. I helped you, Mr. Barron, and I still will!” 

Barron finished attaching the silencer and looked at his newest accountant with calm regard, “That’s okay, Gil, you won’t have to worry about making difficult decisions anymore. I regret to inform you that Mr. Murray and I are letting you go.” He raised the gun at Gil’s abdomen and fired three times. Barron knew from experience that three shots would do the trick, but choosing the abdominal cavity would give the vicim just a few seconds of excruciating pain before he lost consciousness and bled out. It was a rush of satisfaction when you were trying to make a point.

Jared jerked from the muffled shots, perfectly in time with the jerks of Gil’s body. As the other accountant fell to the ground, Jared watched the dark blood pool on Gil’s abdomen. The downed man clenched, started to lift his head, then fell back to the ground and stilled. Barron blew at the smoke coming from his silencer, then turned to walk back to Jared and Murray. 

Jared had just witnessed something he never thought he would see in his entire life. He shook uncontrollably, wondering why it was suddenly so fucking cold in here. He hadn’t realized he’d been making any sounds, but the shock of the horrific scene had caused him to cry out in between desperate inhales for air.

Murray closed the tape back over Jared’s mouth. He snarled into his ear, “Shut up,” then wrapped his arm around Jared’s neck and pulled him up. Barron leaned into the barely standing man. He pressed the hot barrel of the gun into the open cut Jared already had from Murray’s knife, and pushed. Jared screamed behind the tape and squirmed from the pain. Barron threatened, “No fucking tricks, or you’ll be bleeding from a few new holes. We’re gonna go outside and get into the car. You drag your feet and you’re dead.”

Jared felt hot liquid dripping down his neck from his cut being reopened. Murray’s arm tightened, and forced his head up, as he pulled Jared backward. Barron pushed on Jared’s chest. Together, they walked up a slight incline like this. Jared still wasn’t getting enough air, but he had no choice but to comply. The two millionaire’s had him in an impossible position, and so off balance he couldn’t even drop to the ground if he wanted to. 

Jared’s eyes teared up from the light, as they exited the tunnel into the open air. He could see nothing from his position. He felt the weight of two men forcing him to stay compliant, the restriction of air from the arm around his neck and the painful knot getting worse in the middle of his ribcage.

Murray brought a gun up and shoved the end of the barrel into Jared’s temple. Barron moved behind Murray and watched every direction at once with his gun ready. They could see no one waiting for them. No cops, no public. They moved toward the vehicle they saw waiting, about fifty feet away.

Morgan saw the stir of dust announcing someone was about to exit the tunnel. He clicked once to tighten up the focus of his outer team, then watched as three heads emerged. Morgan’s insides twisted into a tighter knot than they already were when he set eyes on Jared. The poor kid was covered in blood, heavy and freshest around his collar bone, but splotched dried places on his arms and knees. It was obvious how he’d been treated. There was tape over his mouth and the assholes had him so tight around the neck, the kid’s face was upturned. Jeff was too far away to tell anything further. 

With barely a turn of his head and touch of his finger, Morgan voiced the situation, “Two guns, one on the hostage and they’ve got him tight. There’s blood but I can’t tell what it’s from. They haven’t seen us yet. They’re forty feet from the car.” 

Jensen’s inner turmoil skyrocketed when he heard the update. He could hear the increased tension in his friend’s voice outside. His team took off running toward the end of the tunnel, no longer caring about being quiet. They reached the tunnel exit within half a minute and found the dead accountant. Jensen watched Wallace’s officers check for a pulse, as he keyed his radio, “We’re coming out. Can we get behind ‘em without being seen?” 

Jensen crouched with his team at the very opening, waiting for JD’s response, “Not without a distraction.” Morgan’s answer was based on his full view of the entire situation. The exit to the tunnel was in plain view. All the bad guys had to do was turn their heads to see them coming out. He voiced his idea, “What about a loose rookie arrest from the front? Make ‘em think we aren’t as good as they are...” 

The silent consideration hung in the air for the next few seconds, as everyone waited for Jensen to give his consent. This would put his friend in harm’s way, but he knew how good of a shot JD was and the officers with him. The chance the suspects would shoot Jared was minimal, too, since they needed him badly to get away.   
Jensen clicked his radio, “You better be convincing,” then let his finger up to wait for the response. Morgan knew damn well what was in that threat. If anything went awry and Jared didn’t make it out of this, Jensen would never be okay. JD knew he needed to be convincing and his timing had to be perfect. He steeled himself, glanced at his other detectives nearby and waited for the nod of understanding. 

JD crouched a little less than he had been, rested his run on the top of the rock he was behind and prepared to attempt an arrest of these mother fucking ass wipes who had caused his favorite new finance expert to bleed like that. “HEY!” JD’s first yell was enough to stop the suspects in their tracks, out in the open with nothing in front of them. 

His second yell of, “YOU’RE UNDER ARREST JERKS,” was the catapult that sent them scrambling hurriedly to seek cover behind the black sedan. JD stayed on the driver’s side, keeping their attention on himself and his partially visible officers close to him.   
It was working. Out of the corner of his eye, JD saw movement. Jensen’s team was coming out of the tunnel and moving up behind the suspects. Morgan continued his threats, though rolling his eyes internally at the ridiculous humiliating downplay of his normal routine. 

“How ‘bout you let the nice accountant go, fellas? Might look good on your resume’s when you get to prison.” Morgan dove for another rock twenty feet closer to the suspects, as shots rang out toward him. Some went wide toward the other officers who were flanking him. JD cursed. Nobody was hit, but getting shot at really pissed him off. If they hadn’t been using Jared as a shield, he would have blown them to bits by now. “Cocksuckers,” he bitched, then he waited in silence. Jensen would let him know when. 

Jared’s body felt disconnected. His mind went into panic mode, afraid of being shot for his failure to keep up, but unable to force himself any longer. His system had been warning him and now it was done. He felt his legs crumbling, Murray having to hold more of his weight while screaming threats into his ear. 

Jared’s mind was playing tricks in his confusion. He heard Barron yelling something, but then he thought he heard a familiar gruff voice yelling out from far away...something that meant safety, but he decided it had to be a hallucination. Jared knew he was going to die. He hadn’t stayed alive long enough for Jensen to get to him. ‘Jensen, I’m sorry,’ he thought, as he felt the violent movements of his captor trying to force him to take his weight back and move. Jared couldn’t. He felt the life force draining out of him and blackness came. 

Jensen had gotten himself in perfect position to confront the assholes from the back, while JD had them from the front. When the millionaires had taken shots at the other men, Jensen’s team had moved quickly. Jensen couldn’t see Jared from the front, but he was close enough to see his lover’s arms give out and drop. They fell with a clink sound, the chained set of iron cuffs now plainly visible. 

Jensen’s fear skyrocketed, as Jared’s legs seemed to fail like his arms and he started to go weightless. Jensen clicked his radio three times, knowing his lover was out of time. He waited for JD to stand, then Jensen did. Murray screamed into Jared’s ear, “GET UP,” too completely distracted by the sudden shift in his hostage’s weight distribution to notice the cops behind and in front of him. Barron looked at Murray when he screamed, then bent over to help him lift Jared into the back of the vehicle. 

Bryan Channing saw the officers surrounding them and put his hands up. The millionaire’s froze when they saw Channing’s hands up, then turned to face Jensen in total shock. Jensen took steps forward, “LET HIM GO AND DROP THE GUNS...NOW,” Jensen commanded the men, his gun trained on their angry faces. They still had Jared in front of them, but he was dead weight. Jensen knew they were out of time.

Barron looked around, studying all of the officers in a few seconds and considering his options. He seemed to be the calmer one, Jensen noticed, actually calculating, and looking for any ability to control the situation. Murray’s eyes were almost deranged, darting back and forth with angry disbelief. 

Barron seemed to come to some conclusion, dropped his weapon and stepped out from behind Murray. “What are you doing?” Murray cried out to his business partner in blatant panic, “We can make it!” Barron’s eyes flicked to Jensen, then to Jared, then back to Jensen with a raised eyebrow. “No, Chase, we can’t make it. This cop has more of a vested interest here. It’s over.”

Jensen saw the cold calculating steel eyes that Jared had told him about. Barron was no one to mess with. He was cold as ice and had just left his partner out to dry, but he wasn’t irrational. It was damn obvious who the more unstable one was and Jensen believed Barron knew that he would do something irrationally stupid. 

Murray cried out, “I can’t believe you, you fucking son of a bitch!” He actually renewed his efforts to pull Jared backward into the car, but it was just too much. He screamed in frustration and pushed the accountant’s dead weight straight at Jensen, who caught Jared in his arms and twisted him away to take the brunt of any bullets. 

Murray pointed his weapon to shoot straight through Jared and Jensen both, but his team fired off several rounds and took the millionaire out before he could hit anyone. Jensen huddled over his lover, protecting him until the guns stopped. He instantly checked for a pulse. He felt one barely there, so he worked off the tape as gently as he could and winced with each cut that was reopened by the sticky glue. 

“I’m so sorry,” Jensen exhaled with pent up emotion, seeing the colorful damages to his lover’s face and neck. He turned his head to listen and feel for any breaths coming from Jared’s mouth, just as JD appeared. “Fucking shitbags,” Morgan bitched, when he saw the condition of their hostage. Jensen glanced up at him, “He’s not breathing,” then opened Jared’s airway and pinched his nose to start blowing air into his body.

JD shouted to those behind him, “MEDICS! WE NEED MEDICS NOW,” then turned back to Jensen, “You got a pulse?” Jensen nodded, after his second rescue breath and mumbled, “ it’s weak.” He blew his third air into Jared’s mouth, then his fourth, while JD placed his fingers on the side of the kid’s neck to monitor his pulse.

“Come on Jare,” Jensen begged, then blew air into the accountant’s body for the fifth and sixth times. ‘God, please don’t do this,’ Jensen begged silently. He continued to blow as Wallace ran toward them with the sounds of a chopper coming. JD glanced back at the man who announced, “Chopper’s landing, medics’ll get you to trauma center.” 

JD nodded toward him, then turned to see Jensen listening and feeling for any sign that Jared was breathing on his own. By the look in Jensen’s anguished eyes, there wasn’t anything yet. “Jesus, baby, come on,” Jensen begged out loud, then blew into his lover again. He stopped when Jared coughed, but continued when the younger man didn’t do anything else. 

Jensen blew twice more, then Jared coughed and turned his head, like he was trying to respond. “That’s it, kid, fight your way back,” Morgan coaxed. Jensen blew into Jared’s body once more and stopped when his lover started to suck in air on his own. “That’s it, Jared, breathe,” Jensen said, smoothing the hair back from Jared’s forehead. Jared turned his head, coughed, then struggled until he finally established a shallow rhythm. 

“Good job, kid,” JD praised loudly, then looked behind him and saw three medics in dark blue clothing running their way with gear and a stretcher. The medics planted themselves quickly beside Jensen and Morgan, then began to assess the patient quickly. Jensen kept his hand on Jared’s head, as they worked. He gently rubbed the accountant’s hair, not knowing whether it was more for Jared, or for himself. Christ, his lover hadn’t been breathing three minutes ago.

The medics cut the sleeve of Jared’s shirt back to get an iv going, then hooked him up to oxygen. They listened to his chest sounds and didn’t seem to be too happy about them. Jared’s dress shirt was mostly in shreds. They carefully pulled apart the remaining buttons and lifted the undershirt to inspect the young man’s ribcage. Jensen’s heart twisted when he saw the dark bruising. ‘Jesusfuckingchrist, they beat the hell out of him,’ he thought to himself. Not only was the kid’s face a mess, his gut had been badly abused. 

The medics felt around gently for heat and hardness, then listened to several locations with the stethoscope. Jensen exchanged a tortured look with his friend across from him, both men feeling the protective guilt and regret of not getting to the innocent young man sooner. They watched the medics attach electrodes and hook Jared up to a cardiac monitor. 

Together, the five men carefully got Jared onto the stretcher. The medics covered him and strapped him in for transport. They carried him to the chopper, then made room so Jensen could go with them. JD touched his arm to get his attention, “I’ll see you there in a few.” Jensen grabbed JD’s arm in silent thanks, but said nothing. He was too raw right now from almost losing Jared, and JD knew it.


	20. CHAPTER TWENTY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things come to closure, as this chapter continues from where we left off. There is angst, hurt/comfort, protective Jensen and some PTSD. Some fluffy moments, some humor and hot sex ensues between our star characters. Jared tells his parents. This concludes with a happy sweet ending, after some emotional challenges are processed first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank the sweetheart readers who stuck with me and were stuck waiting, at times. I never intend to do that on purpose. It’s always the job, or other life things that delay me. You are fabulous and appreciated, so much, and I thank you for loving these characters as much as I have. On to the next story! Take care!

CHAPTER TWENTY 

 

Jensen came back into the hospital room wearing a fresh set of clothes. The rest of their team had dropped his bag off hours ago. He didn’t look rested to JD, but at least he had taken fifteen minutes to shave and shower. JD watched him head toward Jared’s bedside. He looked closely at the kid, while speaking to JD, “Anything?” 

Morgan stood from a chair beside Jared’s bed and rubbed his sore ass, “Nope, not a peep.” Jensen stared at Jared for a moment, then glanced quickly at the heart monitor and oxygen levels. He gently brushed the hair off Jared’s forehead for the umpteenth time. Morgan watched the tender gesture, but he didn’t comment on it. He went over to the couch Jensen spent the night on and dropped himself unceremoniously on it, laid his head back, closed his eyes and stretched his legs. 

Jensen busied himself putting his hygiene supplies back into his carryon luggage. Even though the bag had been dropped off by another detective this morning, he waited until the doctors finally gave their assessment of Jared being out of the woods before he took Morgan’s advice and cleaned up. 

Morgan grumbled from the couch, “The plane just took off for Austin a few ago. Smith, Shanks, Connor and Bailey took our star asshole with them in belly chains. It’ll be back to get us in forty eight hours so the kid won’t have to share a plane with our one living suspect.” Jensen said, “Good. That’ll keep me from losing my job.” He went to Jared’s hospital window and stood looking outside with his arms folded.

Morgan knew what he meant. His friend had shown incredible restraint, even though the anger had been building to insurmountable levels over Jared’s almost dying and the visible injuries now becoming more physically apparent. Jensen’s self control needed no further testing where Barron was concerned. 

Morgan added, “The rest of ‘em are having a field day with Wallace’s team. They’re building cases left and right.” Jensen continued to stare out into the darkening sky. He was glad, things were turning out like they should, Jared was going to be recover but... JD peeked one eye open and spotted the subtle twitch of Jensen’s jaw. 

Morgan leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and looked at Jensen, “I see you doing that.” Jensen glanced at his friend, irritably, then faced the window as he answered, “Doing what?” Morgan said, “Worrying...he’s going to recover.” Jensen closed his eyes with a sigh, then looked down, “I know.” He looked outside again, “I’d feel a lot better if I could just talk to him.” 

Morgan said, “I know.” After a pause, Morgan added, “If I’ve learned anything about him, you know, he’s not gonna stay in that bed very long. Some people don’t recover easily from an experience like this, but you ‘know’ he’ll do it with flying colors. He’s probably gonna be up training for our obstacle race by next week.” 

Jensen knew it was true. His lover didn’t like to stay down long, but this was just...if he’d just gotten there sooner. Morgan stood suddenly and approached him, “Ackles, if you don’t knock if off, I’m gonna put you in your own hospital bed.” Jensen glanced at him in annoyed disbelief, “What the fuck are you piping on about?” Morgan continued his rant, “I see it. I ‘see’ what you’re doing. You’re not just worried about him, you’re blaming yourself and there’s no reason for it. Don’t tell me you’re not because I know you. YOU didn’t DO that to him,” Morgan bitched as he pointed to Jared’s bed. 

Jensen closed his eyes and dropped his head back, “I ‘KNOW’.” He wished JD would shut up and let him sulk. If they’d been a few minutes later, Jared might not have responded to the rescue breaths and he would have lost him. He really needed some time to process that. Jensen needed to talk to him, see his eyes, hold him, to reassure him he was free of those bastards. Jared didn’t even know he was safe yet and it was eating at him. 

Morgan continued further, “He’s kick ass, Ackles. He still took down half the world’s trafficking snakes even when he was banged up and thought he was gonna die. He’s not gonna let some flashbacks and bad dreams hold him down. He’ll heal.” Jensen knew JD was right...but the concern at what residual effects Jared would have to deal with was like a searing ulcer in his own psyche. Until Jared felt better, Jensen simply could ‘not’. 

Jensen turned to his friend with feigned annoyance, “Would you stop lecturing me and get us something to eat?” “Fine,” Morgan bitched, as he looked through his wallet to count bills, “what does your royal heinous want?” Jensen smirked, “Anything,” then watched Morgan head for the door. He heard him call out, “Got it, a granola bar and a piece of cheese,” as he went out into the hall. 

Jensen grinned inwardly at his friend’s antics. The older man was priceless and cherished. He’d kept Jensen from strangling the poor hospital staff while waiting several hours for Jared’s tests to come back and doctors to determine his condition.

Now that it was quiet in the room, Jensen went over to Jared’s bedside and watched him for a few moments. He glanced at the various machines, reading the steady vitals and trying to remind himself that Jared was alive and breathing on his own. He took the younger man’s hand and held it, as he scooted the bedside stool underneath him to sit down. 

“You can wake up any time and let me see those beautiful eyes, you know,” Jensen said softly. His thumb rubbed back and forth on Jared’s hand. After a few seconds, Jensen gently brushed the hair back from Jared’s forehead again. For the dozenth time, he thought about the last twenty four hours, the search through the tunnel and the final act of grabbing Jared’s body when he was pushed toward him by Murray. 

The fear when Jared wasn’t breathing would never be forgotten...Jensen would never stop reliving how many tries it took before the accountant finally gasped and took a breath on his own. The Ottawa trauma staff had been fast and efficient from the time they’d met them at the chopper pad last night. Jared was whisked into scans, X-rays, and ultrasounds. His minimal lung capacity had been the greatest concern.

Jensen was glad the kid had missed the ugly sounding saw the hospital came up with to get the cuffs off. Their police handcuff keys weren’t a match, so doctors had called the hospital’s morgue to find the right tool. It took about twenty minutes to safely remove the metal without cutting Jared’s wrists. 

The doctors treated Jared with anti-swelling meds, heavy painkillers and oxygen. They stitched his neck up and told Jensen the cut had been less than a centimeter from the carotid artery. The bruising to Jared’s lower lungs and organs had been so severe, it stopped Jared’s ability to get enough oxygen. His body shut down and fell into shock. They told Jensen that without rescue breathing, the young accounting expert would have died.

Jared’s face and midriff had darkened in color, as the hours went by. He had various bruises and cuts all over his arms and legs, one really bad bruise on his hip which was in the distinct shape of a shoe print. His swelling had been reduced with the medication they were giving him, but doctors couldn’t stop the deep blues and purples from coming out. One cut on his lip had a stitch in it, the rest had gooey healing glue holding them together. 

Jensen stewed in frustration. It was killing him that Jared might wake up confused and in pain, not realizing he was out of the clutches of those assholes, but JD was right. It could be hours before he woke up, even days. Shock was a tricky thing. Jared’s unconscious state would end when his system felt like it was safe to do so. 

Morgan returned and headed for the table by the couch. He spread out plastic covered plates, utensils and sodas, “Come on Ackles, let the kid rest, you’re probably scaring him with you’re over anxious mother hen routine. He’ll open his eyes if you give him some space.” 

With a last squeeze of Jared’s hand, Jensen left the bedside and joined JD at the table. He sniffed the cover, before pulling it off, “Damn, it smells good, what did you get?” Morgan opened his Coke as he replied, “It’s like a pot roast, or something. Potatoes and mixed veggies. I grabbed us some pie too.” Jensen took his first bite of the meat, “Holy crap, it’s fucking good.” 

Through dinner, Morgan filled him in on the team’s progress. “The lists are of direct ip’s and the account numbers they used to bid on their captives. Bidders, purchasers, sellers... ‘everyone’ is id’d. When do we ‘ever’ get off shore account numbers? Normally, when high tech teams are chasing ip’s the perps catch it and close their accounts. They’re able to hide the money. ‘This’ time, the team blocked the twenty seven accounts ‘first’, thanks to our brilliant friend over there. Some of the accounts are drained though and they can’t figure out why. I mean ‘empty’ empty.” 

Jensen stared at JD, as the older man continued, “They either knew what Jared did and had time to warn some people to drain their money, ‘or’ Jared did something. Wallace’s people are going nuts. Everybody’s dying to talk to the kid. Jensen, I don’t know how he fucking had the time to do all that.” 

Jensen mumbled while stabbing his meat a little harder than he needed to, “He almost got himself killed doing it.” Morgan nodded, “I know, I know...and I’m not saying I wouldn’t have told him never to do that kind of thing, I’m just sayin’ he didn’t risk his hide for nothing. That shit is golden.” 

Jensen looked at his lover, “Well golden, or not. Nobody’s questioning him until he’s ready.” Morgan leaned back in his chair, “Agreed.” The detectives finished their meal, cleaned up and played cards for awhile. Jensen yawned too much for Morgan’s liking, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good to bitch. 

Around nine thirty, Morgan cleaned up, grabbed a blanket and pillow from a cupboard, threw a second set on the couch for Jensen, and headed for the door. He warned, without turning around, “Use that couch tonight or you’re gonna scare him with you’re ugly sleep deprived face,” then headed for the waiting room couch. 

Jensen was left in the room with Jared, the only sounds were of the gentle whisper of oxygen and the thirty minute bp cuff. Nurses came in and performed a slew of checks and adjustments at ten o’clock. After updating the chart, Jared’s lead nurse let Jensen know his signs were still stable and his oxygen levels were rising. There would be another ultrasound in the morning for the doctor to see how the swelling was doing in Jared’s lower lungs. 

Jensen thanked her, then went over to Jared’s bedside. He smoothed the younger man’s hair back and kissed his forehead, like he had done the night before so many times. He watched Jared sleep for minute, then decided to plant himself on the stool for awhile and hold Jared’s hand. 

Jensen felt the exhaustion waning on his system. He couldn’t seem to stop yawning. He finally laid his head down sideways on his arms, figuring if he could rest his eyes for a minute, he would feel better. Three hours went by, and Jensen raised his head sluggishly. He yawned and squinted his eyes at his watch. “Fuck,” he grumbled in disbelief. He rubbed his face, stood up, and worked the kinks out of his neck as he walked around. He actually felt just a tad bit rejuvenated, but sore as hell from being in one position. 

Jensen stretched his arms over his head and shook them out. He yawned and did a double take, as something drew his attention back to Jared. He stared at the younger man for a few seconds, then slowly stepped back to the bedside, sensing something was different, but unable to pinpoint what it was. 

Jensen sighed, deciding he must be imagining things and went to grab a water bottle off the window sill. He upended half the bottle, put the cap back on and glanced at his lover again as he swallowed. Jensen froze. ‘This’ time it was definitely noticeable. 

Jensen quickly set the water down and moved to the opposite side of Jared’s bed. Not only had Jared moved his right hand to his stomach, instead of keeping it where Jensen left it a few minutes before, the younger man had turned his face to the left. Jensen smoothed Jared’s hair back from his forehead and watched his face. He watched for signs of movement under the accountant’s eyelids, praying Jared wasn’t dreaming about his horrid experience. 

When Jared very quietly moaned, Jensen took his iv hand in his own, and rubbed his thumb back and forth on it while stroking Jared’s hair, “Baby, can you hear me?” Jared felt like he was floating. There was cool air on his face, something resting there, but it wasn’t Murray’s hand. He wasn’t being dragged anymore. His body wasn’t hurting like it had been...there was soreness everywhere, but nothing like before. 

He could breathe...that was different. He felt a slight heaviness in his lower chest, and his neck felt tight and raw where it had been cut. Something was touching his hand, but it wasn’t punishing, or brutal, it was gentle and loving. Where was he? Was he dead? Was Jensen dead? The visual of blood pooling over Gil’s stomach, the sounds of his bosses screaming, arguing...the gun shots that were silenced, but still roared through his brain as Gil’s body jerked in reaction. 

The feeling of cuts and bruises, scraping against the stone floor and dirt...none of it matched what he was feeling right now. Jared moaned once again, sounding fearful and confused. Jensen repeated the question and continued his tender touches. “Baby, can you hear me?” 

The voice that meant safety and love to Jared drifted into his awareness. He allowed himself to float toward it, and let it guide him to the surface. He felt someone holding his hand, felt the tender rubbing on his head. Jensen kept up the light ministrations, “That’s it, Jare. I’m right here. You’re safe, baby, you’re gonna be okay. Can you open your eyes for me?” 

Jared finally worked his heavy eyelids to crack just a sliver. He blinked a few times, then settled his lids in a half open position. He didn’t look directly at Jensen, so the older man wasn’t quite sure if he was completely aware yet. Jensen asked, “Jare, can you hear me?” 

Jared nodded, though very slowly. He moaned and squinted in pain when the stitches in his neck grabbed at the movement. Jensen rubbed his hair gently, “Try not to move, love. You’re in a hospital, and you’re pretty banged up but you’re gonna be okay.“ 

Jared’s mind felt like it was functioning on about a hundredth of it’s regular speed. He couldn’t seem to push through the fog. Jensen being here was either a dream, or he was dead and Jensen was too. The last thing he remembered was being dragged by his two bosses. He couldn’t breathe. He was passing out. Murray and Barron were screaming at him to hurry and get up, but he couldn’t. He was going to die. No one was going to get there in time...he was going to die, his stomach would pool in blood just like Gil. 

“Whoa whoa whoa...hey,” Jensen soothed, as Jared’s eyes pooled in panic. He sobbed in terror, weak and unable to understand anything. The pent up fear was an emotional battering ram, trying to push its way through. Where was he? Was he going to wake up on a plane with his bosses stabbing him? They’d promised to kill him slowly, let him bleed out. ‘Oh god,’ Jared’s mind struggled with the fear. 

“Jared,” Jensen called to him, as he kept up the gentle ministrations, “Jared, whatever you’re seeing is not happening. You’re safe baby. That’s all over. You’re in a hospital and I’m right here. You’re safe.” Jensen closed his eyes, as he kissed him on the forehead and took a moment to breathe him in and feel the warmth of Jared’s skin. He struggled with his own tears at the pain and fear his lover had suffered. 

“I’m so sorry...I’m so goddamn sorry for this, Jare,” Jensen whispered, as he kissed him again and stroked the younger man’s hair. Jared half sobbed a few times, but Jensen’s touch was like magic. He felt the tenderness wash through him and dull all the terror and pain. Jensen was here. Somehow, some way, his lover was here and telling him everything was okay. 

Jared moaned, weakly. He wanted to talk with his lover. Something pulled him back toward darkness, but he heard Jensen’s voice, “Just rest...I’m right here. You’re safe. I love you, Jare.” Jensen watched Jared still and fall back into deep slumber. He stayed close for awhile. If there was ‘any’ way he could take his lover’s place and suffer through this trauma for him, he would do it. 

He rubbed his thumb back and forth on Jared’s left hand as it rested on the bed. He couldn’t seem to stop touching him. JD was right. The kid would bounce back...he would push himself and resist staying down too long, but right now he was terribly raw and vulnerable. Jared’s pain was like a knife in Jensen’s heart. 

Jensen allowed himself to rest on the couch, only after he was sure Jared had slipped into a deep sleep. He was dragging ass and of no use to Jared, if he didn’t get some rest. Jensen laid back and closed his eyes, knowing his ears would pick up any ‘Jared’ sounds in the room. 

After another three hours, Jensen woke to a soft high pitched moan. He got up sluggishly, stretched and made his way over to the bedside. He rubbed his face and yawned, then kept his eyes peeled on Jared for signs of waking. The accountant definitely seemed more active then a few hours ago. 

Jared turned his face to the right, facing Jensen’s direction. He didn’t open his eyes, but yawned behind the oxygen mask. There was a crankier moan next, followed with scrunched up lines of pain. Jared’s right hand moved to his stomach area. Jensen figured that yawn may have awakened some of the bruising in Jared’s torso. 

“Jare,” Jensen tried softly calling him. He waited while the younger man flopped his head over the opposite way and then back toward Jensen. After a few seconds, Jared turned his head to the center, then reached up with his iv hand and pulled at the mask with as much coordination as a new toddler. It seemed to annoy him, or confuse him, because he sluggishly pushed it until it moved an inch to the side. 

Jensen couldn’t help but grin at the adorable look of distaste from the drug induced patient, when he peeled one eye open to look at the offending device first, then at the back of his left hand. His barely cracked open eyes followed the iv tube from his hand up to the bag, then he dropped his hand and head back to the bed with a grumble of disapproving acceptance. 

“Hey,” Jensen got his attention. When Jared immediately turned to him, Jensen smiled with concern in his eyes, “I can’t even describe what it means to see you awake. How do you feel?” Jared focused on him for a few seconds before his brain caught up to the fact that Jensen was really right in front of him. He started to talk, then frustratingly pushed the mask further aside with his iv hand. 

“I thought,” Jared’s voice cracked from the change in air and misuse, “I thought they were going to shoot you. I didn’t know if you got my text. Did you get hurt? Is everyone okay?” Jensen could hardly control his relief at seeing Jared alert like this...but the fear in Jared’s eyes over ‘his’ safety had him overcome with his own emotions. 

Jensen smoothed his lovers hair back and searched his eyes, “Yes, love, I got your text. You saved me. You saved me and took down half the earth’s bad guys. Everyone’s okay, except for you. They hurt you badly before I could get to you. You’ve got some healing to do.” Jared stared at his lover in awe for several minutes longer. He couldn’t believe he was here, in front of Jensen...alive. 

“That’s helping your lungs, you know,” Jensen said, as he gently moved the oxygen mask back over Jared’s nose and mouth and secured it, “You’ve got some swelled up lower lungs and the O2 is helping them get better.” Jared looked at him with such wonder, Jensen noticed he didn’t even seem to notice the mask anymore. He was too busy studying every detail of Jensen’s face. 

Jensen smiled softly, smoothing Jared’s hair back. Jared’s steel grey eyes stayed glued to him for several more minutes. Jensen said, “You scared the hell out of me, you know. When I got those emails...all those files...” He stayed fixed on his lover’s gaze, letting him see all the worry and fear he had tried to hide from the rest of his team. 

Jared’s mind was still scrambling to catch up to it all. He suddenly asked, “Where are we?” Jensen explained, “We’re at the Ottawa Trauma Center. They flew you here in a chopper night before last.” Jensen watched Jared trying to process that. He asked, “Do you remember waking up a few hours ago?” 

Jared looked confused and shook his head. “It’s alright,” Jensen said, “you woke up a little over three hours ago, but you weren’t totally with me yet. Are you in any pain right now?” Jensen waited for his answer while Jared still seemed to be struggling with the fact that Jensen was here. He finally realized Jensen asked him a question and took stock of himself. 

Jared answered, “Just when I move. What’s wrong with me?” Jared lifted his right hand toward his neck and felt the bandage there as Jensen laid it out for him without too much detail, “That cut on your neck was pretty deep, but they sewed it up. Everything else is treated with single stitches or some healing glue. You’ve got very deep bruising, kiddo, but in time it’s going to shrink and go away. No broken bones, just lots of purple and blue.” 

Jared dropped his hand back to his chest and turned his head to look elsewhere for a minute. His brain scrambled with all the different stings and sore spots he felt, the thick heavy bruising to his gut, the sore hip and the fact that he could move his hands freely, as they were no longer in cuffs. He remembered how he got all the sore spots...vividly. They dragged him...beat him...Murray cut him...then they shot Gil. 

Jared’s eyes teared up, as he processed what happened. Jensen hadn’t let him die. Those bastards didn’t get to kill him. Jesus, when he felt himself passing out, he was sure that was it. Jensen saw the fear and helplessness of the recent events overwhelming Jared’s mind and rushed to soothe him, “Hey, it’s all over now...this is your mind catching up to the fact that you’re safe now...and you are. It’s all over now.” 

Jensen gentled him through the weak emotional release, as the exhausted accountant faintly sobbed and let the tears come. Jared turned his head to Jensen again. The older man kissed his forehead and touched him lovingly all over his unbruised places. Jensen had his own tears falling. “It’s okay, love,” he kissed him again. Jared’s forehead seemed to be the only safe place. 

It felt so good to be here with Jensen...to feel his touch. Jared felt himself getting sleepy but he didn’t dare take his eyes off Jensen. What if he woke up and he wasn’t here? What if this was all a dream? “I thought I would never see you again,” Jared confessed, struggling to calm down and absorb the heavenly touches. 

“Hey,” the older man spoke up, trying to dispel the fear he saw in his lover’s eyes, “there’s nothing to be afraid of now, okay? Those assholes can’t hurt you anymore, and I’m not leaving your side, okay? I’m right here, Jare. They can’t touch you, or me. It’s all over now.” 

Jared absorbed Jensen’s words and started to feel calmer. The tiredness was pulling at him, but he still fought it. “When can we go home,” he asked sleepily. All he wanted was to wrap his limbs around the older man and hang on for days until this horrible fear went away. 

Jensen explained, “You’ve got swelling that has to shrink first. The doc wants an ultrasound later this morning and he’ll probably tell us something after that, okay?” Jared looked heart-wrenchingly disappointed at that, but he nodded sluggishly. His eyelids became heavier, but he forced himself to keep them open so he could stay zero’d in on the most important part of his life. 

Jensen took Jared’s right hand from his chest and kissed it, before holding it between both of his own. He sat on the stool next to the bed and watched the younger man fight sleep another few minutes before he finally succumbed. Jensen couldn’t let the hand go for another forty minutes, occasionally swiping at his own tears that were a result of knowing what Jared had endured. 

Finally, Jensen stood and stretched, his gaze still lingering on the slack face that was lost in peaceful sleep. He prayed silently for dreamless REM for Jared. Jensen used the restroom, took another look at Jared, then went back to lay down on the nearby couch. He set his ears on Jared radar again, then let himself drift. 

Jared slept fitfully, not rousing until after seven thirty. He seemed to remember hearing a bustle of activity around him, but he hadn’t been coherent enough to make out the details. When he yawned and lifted a hand to rub his eyes, Jared heard a familiar gruff voice next to him, “It’s about time, Super Star.” Jared turned his head to see Jeff Morgan smiling at him. He took a few seconds to process, then greeted the man, “Hi.” 

Morgan leaned closer, “Hi, kiddo. How ya feelin’?” Jared yawned again, then pushed the annoying mask aside so he could talk, “Better...sore.” Morgan’s eyes filled with sympathetic understanding, “I bet.” Jared asked confusedly, “Where’s Jensen?” Morgan nodded his head and pointed his thumb in the direction of the couch, indicating for Jared to look that way. The younger man turned his head enough to spy the six foot two lump under a blanket. 

Morgan continued, “Brought him coffee an hour ago, but he peeled one eye open to see you were still asleep and fell back unconscious. He managed to grumble that you’d been awake about four this morning. I figured that’s the only reason he was letting himself sleep, at all.”

Jared noticed his bed was slightly upright this morning, but he couldn’t remember how it got that way. He took a moment to take inventory of his body parts, then felt a twinge of embarrassment when he realized there must be a catheter attached to him. ‘Fuck,’ he mentally bitched. He really needed to get rid of that. 

Morgan announced, “They came in awhile ago and did all your checks and even did a blood test. They raised your bed a bit...said it would be good to get you moving, but not too much all at once. Your ultrasound team will come and get you at eight thirty.” Jared looked at him, processing all of that. He finally asked, “What time is it?” 

JD answered, “Seven forty.” Jared yawned, looked over at the machines still attached to him, then asked, “Why do I need all that?” He turned back to JD, “I’m starving. Is there any food?” JD smirked at the double question, happy that Jared’s brain was starting to come back on line, “Of course there’s food, and the iv is probably a big reason why you ‘do’ feel better, so I’m not clear on when they plan to unhook you. You promise not to jump any fences if I go and ask the nurses for your breakfast?” 

Jared nodded, partially smiling. Jeff gently moved the oxygen mask back over Jared’s nose and mouth, then left, grinning to himself. He’d gained a comical look of distaste from the accountant when he put that mask back. Jared glanced at his lover on the couch again, snoring away. Jensen must have worn himself sick worrying about him. Jared reminded himself how lucky he was. 

Jeff returned a couple minutes later with a nurse following him. She sat a covered tray on Jared’s nearby rolling cart, then greeted Jared with a concerned smile, “Good morning. It’s very good to see you awake. How’s your pain this morning?” Jared answered softly, “It’s okay.” She explained, “The machine is dosing you every four hours, but it’s okay to ask for extra, if you need to. The doctor has ordered another ultrasound before he makes any decisions on your recovery, but we can remove the iv as soon as you’re eating and drinking enough, okay?” 

Jared nodded, already looking eagerly at the tray being rolled toward him. He opened the tray and tried to inhale, then abruptly moved the irritating mask aside and inhaled again. “Can I sit up more,” Jared asked, when he felt too far back. She answered, “Sure, that’s no problem, but we have to lift the bed slowly, okay?”

Jared nodded, looking a little confused at her concern, but as soon as the bed started to inch upward, his insides shifted and, ‘Holy fuck,’ he gasped and grabbed the bedrails. Jeff grabbed his shoulder and lightly squeezed it, “Breathe kid, that’s a lot of bruises moving around in there.” 

Jared panted through the movement. Dear God, this was fucking torture. He felt his insides shifting downward and they weren’t happy about it. When he seemed to calm over the first few inches, the nurse asked him, “Ready for more, or you wanna stop?” Jared said, “No...just go,” but he braced himself for what was to come. “Fuck,” he squinted and clenched, panting again and trying his best to overcome it. 

“I think that’s enough kid,” Morgan’s voice said, as he glanced at the nurse. She put the controls down and waited while Jared calmed down. Jesus, he had no idea. At least he was more upright now but it had cost him. He felt a slight pressure from his lower chest when he breathed in, but it wasn’t bad. There was a little bit of nausea but it was quickly disappearing. Things were better, but he had to agree with Jeff, ‘yeah, let’s not do that again.’ 

Jared said, “Thank you,” to both of them, then blew out a breath of relief. The nurse responded, “You’re welcome, Mr. Padalecki, but it’s imperative that every movement you make is that slow, okay?” Jared nodded. She added, “I’m gonna let you eat as much as you want, then I’ll see about taking some of the machines off, okay?” 

Jared nodded, “Okay,” then turned toward her eagerly, “But can you take the other one out too?” His eyes darted to Morgan and back, a little nervously, so she knew what he meant. Her eyes were kind as she smiled again, “We’ll take everything away but the oxygen, alright? But that requires you getting to the bathroom, and back. It might be a little slower getting rid of that one. I’m gonna switch you to a cannula real quick, so you don’t have to keep moving that mask in order to eat or drink. Will you leave it on?” 

Jared took a few seconds to catch up to everything, but finally answered, “Okay.” Morgan figured it was the pain meds and anti-inflammatories combined that were keeping Jared a bit foggy, in addition to what he’d been through. The nurse took only two minutes to pull the oxygen mask off the connected tube and replaced it with a new cannula. She placed it into Jared’s nostrils, as he began to pick apart his tray. When she left, Morgan sat next to him, sipping some hot coffee the nurse had given him. 

Morgan grinned at the younger man’s groans of appreciation throughout his meal. He figured the kid must have been past starvation after two days of nothing because oatmeal had to be the most bland shit on the planet. Jared was rolling his eyes up and licking his spoon like it was candy. 

There were eggs with cheese on them, and little sausages. Jared took bites from all of it, but he filled up much quicker than he originally thought and soon had to relax back into the pillow. After a few seconds, Jared doubled his efforts and pulled the lid off a cold cup of apple juice. God, that was something he absolutely loved so he sucked it down. 

Finally admitting defeat, Jared relaxed back into the bedding and let his stomach get used to being full again. He’d only eaten about a fourth of the tray but he felt better from it. The medication machine burred and soon Jared felt the dreamy relaxed effect of the painkillers or whatever they were. He was full of food, pain free, and he started to drift. 

Two escorts arrived, but they said something to Jeff, not the patient. Within seconds, Jeff’s voice penetrated Jared’s drifting mind, “Kid, I know you’re sleepy but I want you to know where you’re going. You’re gonna be wheeled out to your ultrasound and back. You can sleep, just know we’ll be here when you get back.” 

Jared moaned and nodded, “M’kay,” then tried to include, “thanku,” but he wasn’t sure if it even came out. He felt his bed rolling, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. Damn, that sneaky nurse. She must have known his machine would dose him before she planned on removing everything. 

Morgan watched the accountant get wheeled out. He marveled at how well the kid was doing today. Holy shit, Jensen was gonna be amazed...probably pissed too that he’d missed it. He relaxed in the cushy chair in the corner, put his feet up on the hard stool, and brought out a newspaper he’d been saving. Morgan entertained himself for the next forty five minutes until Jared returned. 

Holy fuck, Jensen felt better. He yawned and stretched, then pushed himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his face, then his head, feeling all the messed up hair spikes, before he stood up and stretched himself again. Morgan glanced over his paper at him with his reading glasses on his nose, smirking, “Morning princess.” Jensen stepped heavily over to the bed, “How his he?” 

Morgan glanced at Jared as he spoke, “He just got back from his ultrasound.” Jensen gave the older man an irritable look, “Why didn’t you wake me?” JD dropped his paper in annoyance, “Because he was terrific. He was alert, he was starving so he got food, then he got doped up on meds and fell back asleep.” Jensen looked at JD in shocking disbelief, then back at Jared, “Really?” He couldn’t believe he’d missed all that.

Morgan sighed, “He woke up and I told him you were asleep. He could see you. He asked for food, even though he only got a little bit down. His expressions were epic, by the way, over his first food in two days. Moving him to an incline was painful as fuck for him, but he breathed through it like a champ. The nurse promised him she’d remove some things if he drank and ate. He’s out cold from those meds they’re giving him...been over an hour now.” 

Jensen listened, looking highly concerned and guilty until JD finally finished his rendition. “Ackles, he’s hurtin’, that ain’t no lie, but he’s better. I’m sure he’s gonna wanna pee on his own next round so ‘you’ can handle that one. Poor kid does ‘not’ like that tube in his dick.” 

Jensen sighed, “Who would,” then studied Jared for a few more seconds before going to sit on the stool. Morgan stood and stretched. He handed Jensen the paper, “I’m sure you could use some coffee, since I drank yours from earlier...and the nurse brought me even more. I’ll grab us some brunch foods, ‘after’ I shower and shave. I’m sure they’ll feed the adorable accountant anything he wants later. I think he’s got the nurses under his magic spell. They sure come by here a lot.” 

Morgan moved past Jensen and headed for his carryon. He went for the door, but Jensen stopped him, “Hey.” JD turned back to see the gratitude in his friend’s eyes. When Jensen said, “Thank you,” Morgan said, “Whatever, Ackles,” then left the room with a knowing smirk. Jensen stared at his lover for a few seconds longer, then went into Jared’s restroom. 

He left the door ajar as he brushed his teeth and washed his face. He wet the unruly hair on top of his head and tried to smooth it down to lay right. Jensen returned to the room and reminded himself that Jared’s carryon had been found in the tunnel and dropped off yesterday with his own. If Jared got to a point where he could clean up in his restroom, at least he had a few comforts from home. 

Jensen planted himself in the corner chair and started to read through JD’s newspaper. About twenty minutes into it, Jensen glanced at his lover who inhaled deeply and moved his head. Jensen waited, watching him for a few seconds, to determine whether the accountant was waking up, or not. When Jared moved his head to the center and yawned, Jensen stood and moved to the bed. 

The younger man turned his head Jensen’s way and blinked open his eyes. Jensen smiled, as he brushed Jared’s hair away from his face. Jared immediately focused on him with a sweet, “Hi.” The adoration in Jared’s eyes was quite apparent. Jensen returned the sentiment, “Good morning.” Jared smiled, his eyes blinking heavily like the pain medication was probably still an influence. 

Jensen smirked, “So, I guess you sat up, ate breakfast and managed to attract half the nursing staff with your adorable hotness while I was snoring... ‘and’ you got your ultrasound.” Jared searched Jensen’s beautiful green eyes, looking concerned, “You were so tired. Are you okay?” 

Jensen smiled at the concern in Jared’s eyes, directed at ‘him’, “Yes, love, I’m okay...now that you’re getting better, and I’ve had some sleep. I’m just sorry I missed all that. JD said you’ve been running foot races all morning.” 

Jared made a face, “Not really. I just ate breakfast and sat up.” Jared looked to the side and bitched, “THAT was fun.” Jensen watched him in sympathy, remembering it had been quite painful according to JD. Jensen asked, “How does everything feel right now?” Jared looked back at him, “It’s fine. I don’t feel it really, unless I move certain ways. This part pulls and stings sometimes.” 

Jared indicated his neck while he made that statement. His puppy dog begging hazel grey eyes locked onto Jensen’s, “Did anyone say when I could leave?” Jensen touched his cheek gently, “No, not yet. The doc’ll be by after he looks at the tests.” Jared reluctantly accepted that. He looked to his other side and noticed the iv was still there. He made a face, because the other offending attachment was still there, too.

Jensen smiled knowingly as his lover sighed in annoyance, “JD said it’s all gonna go soon, just hang in there okay?” Jared looked over and pinned Jensen with his stunning grey orbs. The hazel’s and green’s were battling with the steel smoke in there today. It was mesmerizing, as always. No wonder the nurses were going nuts. 

A couple hours later, the doctor finally appeared. He spent time assessing Jared and then explained his condition and test results. “I’m happy your lung capacity is back to the low seventies, but I want to get it into the eighties before I let you go. Hopefully, by tomorrow, we’ll have those readings, alright?” 

Jared looked disappointed at spending another night there, but he nodded and listened further as the doc continued, “You’re doing really well...recovering quite fast. The swelling has come down, but it’s still an obstruction to the lungs until it comes down more. You’ll continue the pain meds and anti-inflammatories for tonight, but we’ll switch to oral and unhook the iv, if you’re drinking enough on your own.”

“You can get up with extreme caution and a spotter, for now but NEVER alone.” Jared looked hopeful, “I can go to the bathroom?” The doc cautioned, “Yes...but only with your spotter. As you start to loosen up and can breathe in more O2, we’ll see about doing it alone. You have very deep bruises that will heal themselves, provided they don’t have any upsets. The last thing we want is to give that raw tissue any further damage so that it tears or bleeds internally. Right now, your body’s doing great work, but you need to be careful.” 

Jared was so happy to be getting better, he missed the look the doc gave his lover. Jensen nodded to the doctor in response, a silent exchange that he understood the directions and would be watching their patient for overdoing it. Jared looked eager, at this point, willing to promise anything just to get a release paper. He thanked him, then the doctor shook his hand and left. 

The minute he was gone, Jared looked at Jensen with priceless angsty longing. Jensen grinned, “I suppose you wanna do that bathroom trip now?” Jared nodded eagerly, “Please?” Jensen couldn’t refuse him, even if he tried. Jared’s eyes were like secret weapons. 

At that moment, JD came back in, freshly shaven with damp hair and smelling like Old Spice. He sat two lunch trays on the table, then turned to see Jensen eyeing him with expectation. He walked over to the bed, glancing at Jared, then back at Jensen, “What’s up?” Jensen said, “He wants to get up and try the bathroom. The doc said he could with a spotter, but I think it’s better with two the first time.” 

JD looked at Jared with an eager grin, “Well, let’s go, kid. We gotcha.” Jared’s independent nature was coming back and it absolutely didn’t want him acting like a baby about anything. He didn’t need two people helping him stand, for chrissakes. Ten minutes later, he forgot all about his mental rant as he cried out in unexpected excruciating pain. ‘Holyfuckingchrist,’ it felt like things were ripping inside of him. 

The twisted knots snapped loose, as they unfurled in various places when he was completely upright with his legs hanging over the side. Jensen held him from the left, Jeff from the right, as Jared struggled with the horrible pain. A nurse was standing by to remove the catheter, but he didn’t even remember she was there. 

Nausea set in...overwhelmingly so. Jared breathed short choppy breaths, with little moans in between. “Take your time...there’s no rush,” Jensen spoke into his left ear, while slowly rubbing his back. Jared felt comforted by the warm hand, but he couldn’t respond. He wished he could rush through this, but his body just wasn’t cooperating. 

Morgan was just as soothing from the right side, “Just breathe kid...in and out, you don’t have to do anything else.” Everyone stood still, as Jared rode out the dissipating nausea and pain. It was finally subsiding, thank God. He felt someone remove the cannula from his nose, then took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The room wasn’t spinning. Things were better. 

Standing turned out to be much easier than sitting up that first time, so it wasn’t long before the nurse could remove the catheter and he could get going. The detectives escorted him into the bathroom, with his rolling iv cart. Jared tried not to look at himself as he used the little hygienic supplies Jensen had pulled from his carryon bag. He’d gotten a glimpse in the mirror and realized looking too long was going to cause the nausea to return. 

The warm water and soap felt amazing. Jared washed his hands and avoided the iv site. He noticed the slight darkened abrasions around his wrists and stared at them for a moment, like he’d just now noticed them. He remembered the cuffs, the clank of the metal as Barron lifted them, the clamp sound when he locked them. 

Jensen interrupted his thoughts by rubbing his back. It was enough to get Jared’s attention back on track. He brushed his teeth, then used some of the deodorant.   
The nurse handed Jensen a new hospital gown and changed Jared’s bedding while both cops helped the younger man swap his only piece of clothing. Jared wasn’t bare for more than a second. The men put the new gown over him first, as JD pulled the dirty one from underneath. Jared was so grateful these two had been quick and protective of his embarrassment. 

“Thank you,” Jared said, as the detectives helped him back to the bed and rolled the fresh lunch cart toward him. Jared was left sitting up on the side of his bed, per his request. Jensen moved the stool around to sit close to him, while Jared ate his lunch. They weren’t quite comfortable with leaving Jared upright like this without someone close. 

The nurse put his cannula back in his nose, then adjusted his iv lines. She promised Jared, once again, that after lunch he would lose them if he took in enough fluids and ate. The accountant ate half his chicken salad and vegetable soup like a champion. Jensen was impressed. The younger man had only finished about a quarter of his breakfast, according to JD, but this lunch tray was at least half gone when he was done. 

Jared made an adorable ‘yuck’ face at the jello, which made Jensen smile, but he downed the small fruit salad with yogurt topping. He was hurting, Jensen could tell, by the grimace every once in awhile when Jared moved something sensitive. Jared drank his lemon lime flavored soda, then sat still with his eyes closed and head tilted back. He felt better...refreshed and alive. This soreness was nothing. He was going to kick it’s ass and get the hell out of here. 

Jensen and JD had scarfed down their own lunches, in the meantime. JD collected their trash and threw it all away before he sat down again at the small table. Jensen stayed by the bed. Jared inhaled deeply through his nose, feeling the cool oxygen penetrate his lungs. After he exhaled the cleansing breath, he turned to the other men and surprised them, “So, what’s going on with Barron and Murray?” 

Morgan looked between the other two men and said, “Uhhh,” until Jensen took over, “You sure you feel like talking about that right now?” The younger man looked between them, uncertain, “I don’t even know what happened...or if the files I sent you are helping...are they? And I’d really like to know if you caught them.” Jensen didn’t think this was a good idea, but he certainly wasn’t going to keep things from Jared. The man deserved to know, but Jensen wanted to tread carefully, so they didn’t trigger something Jared wasn’t ready to relive. 

Jensen glanced at Jeff Morgan, giving him the subtle ‘ok’ to proceed carefully. “Well,” Morgan piped in, “your dickhead bosses shot at me and THAT pissed me off, but it was a distraction so Jensen could get his half of our team out of the tunnel. When they dragged you out of the tunnel, I kept ‘em busy until Jensen had them surrounded.” 

Jared looked at Jensen with some confusion, “You were in the tunnel?” Jensen watched his lover’s eyes, as he answered, “Yes, my team had been following you...though it took us a bit to catch up to you without being heard.” Jared looked like he was processing, then he realized something, “I think they heard you.” He looked down in thought, “Or at least, they ‘thought’ they did.” Jensen said, “They might have, at one point.” 

Jared looked at him again, “So then what happened?” Jensen continued, “Well, Barron gave up.” At Jared’s raised eyebrow, the older man added, “He wasn’t happy about it. In fact, he was pissed, but after looking around and seeing no way out, he stepped aside and dropped his weapon. Murray was livid, screaming about it, but Barron stepped even farther from him and smirked, like he was gloating. It was cold. I pretty much figured he was hoping Murray would do something unstable and we’d shoot him.”

Jared stared at Jensen, trying to picture the scene he’d been too unconscious to even be aware of. He certainly believed that about Barron. The man was a cold calculating son of a bitch and he’d been pissed off about Murray’s deals. Jared asked further, “So, what happened to Murray, then?” Jensen answered, “He went crazy with rage...still tried to pull you into the car, at first, but it didn’t work. He pushed you at me and I caught you, but when I twisted us away from him, he raised his gun to shoot us both.” 

Jensen continued, “He’s dead. The team took him out before he could fire.” Jared looked at Jensen for a few seconds, just to make sure he’d heard that right, then he looked down. The detectives waited, hoping they hadn’t dumped this on Jared too soon. Jared cleared his throat, looking to the floor when he asked, “So where’s Barron now?” 

Jensen saw this as a guarded gesture. Jared was probably sure the son of a bitch, Barron, was still somewhere close by. Morgan answered from the couch, “He was flown back to Austin yesterday with four of our team. He’s booked into jail for murder, trafficking and conspiracy. They’ll add kidnapping and some other felonies, as we go. No one thought you should have to ride with him, sport.” 

Jared looked over at JD for a few seconds, then down again. He hadn’t been prepared for such a revelation about everyone protecting him. They’d done so much for him. Jensen rubbed his back and gently pulled the younger man’s head up by his chin. When Jared met his eyes, Jensen explained, “No one wants you to be afraid of him anymore. You risked your ass to get them all that evidence. Everyone agreed the least they could do was get him the hell out of here so you didn’t have to ‘ever’ be near him again.”

Jared felt his emotions threatening and he honestly didn’t know where they were coming from. As the other men exchanged a worried look, Jared quickly swiped his eyes and changed the subject, “So are the files working? What’s happening with them?”

Jensen answered first, “The team’s are going nuts over them. They’ve built networks with other agencies, identified suspects, issued warrants...not just here and the U.S., but through Interpol too.” Jared looked surprised, “Really?” Morgan took over, “Kid, you pegged the big leagues. The people with millions control the little guys. The local trafficking rings roll up to middle guys, and those people answer to even higher ones.”

Morgan continued, “We froze the ip’s and the accounts you gave us but some of them are empty. We thought maybe your bosses found out what you did with their files and warned a few partners before we hit the accounts.” Jared suddenly looked up and glanced between them. He realized he’d never told them about the money. 

Jensen noticed the renewed apprehension and focused on him, “Jared, did you have something to do with those empty accounts?” Jared paused, knowing Jensen wasn’t going to like this. He figured he better explain, “I kind of...took everything they had and...transferred it to a bunch of charities...animals and nature and stuff. I didn’t have time to be specific.” 

The sergeants stared at their favorite accounting expert, who was darting his eyes between them, more from guilt when he looked at Jensen. He knew he’d taken a terrible risk. JD finally stepped closer and asked, “How did you manage all of that being right in the middle of them?” 

Jared swallowed, “I had to wait until Gil was busy. When he left the first time, I sent the text about Reiner. I knew they were planning to kill me. I overheard them talking about it.” Jared swallowed once again, then continued, “Gil caught me texting you about Russell and the tunnels. We argued, but he didn’t tell them...not right away, anyway. I had to do the files and accounts when he took some people to the bathroom. I knew I wouldn’t get another chance.”

Jared looked up at Jensen with such anguish, it tugged at the older man’s heart, “I didn’t think you were going to make it before they killed me.” He swiped his eyes and continued, “I didn’t know if you’d gotten my message, but I had to believe you were safe. I couldn’t let them get away with it. I knew they were going to kill me. I saw what they were doing and I had to stop them somehow. I only had about fifteen minutes alone so I could at least hit ‘em where it would hurt.”

Morgan was amazed, “That’s it? You did that in fifteen minutes?” Jared shrugged a shoulder and swiped at his annoying leaky eyes, “It’s the only chance I had. They were talking about killing me after the business deals. I didn’t want to die without hurting them however I could.” Jensen finally spoke, his protective anger taking a beating at this point, “Jared, did they find out you’d done all this before we found you?” 

Jared hesitated...he looked up with his anguished teary eyes and back down with a nod. “Jesus, baby,” Jensen said, as he pulled Jared into his arms and let the accountant release the quiet sobs he’d held back. Jensen closed his eyes and thanked whatever entities that would listen for keeping Jared alive. He kissed the shaggy head and whispered, “I’m so sorry. I’m so fuckin’ sorry you were stuck with them so long.” 

Jensen’s eyes struggled with their own burning liquid. Jared had been thinking there wasn’t much hope, at the time, and he still tried to fight back. The younger man laid his head sideways on Jensen’s shoulder, then continued, “I’ve never seen the black internet. I’ve heard about it, but...they forced me to log onto it and the things I saw were disgusting. When I said I wouldn’t do that for them, Murray slammed my face into the table. He held me down while he showed me a picture of you outside. He said they would have the guy who took the picture put a bullet in your head if I didn’t do what they told me to do.” 

Jared started to quietly sob again as he spoke, “I couldn’t believe people could be so inhumane. Everyone hears about trafficking and slavery, but I just never imagined how many people there were...the children were crying...they were beaten. They hit them, and some of them looked drugged. People were bidding on them like toys.” 

Morgan sighed and dropped his head. Listening to this innocent kid’s experience wasn’t easy. With all the years of harsh realities they’d faced, as soldiers and cops, JD still wasn’t immune to an innocent like Jared having been thrown in the middle of such a horrible situation. 

At least that explained the empty accounts. JD planned on calling his team with this as soon as possible. Jared inhaled deeply, then exhaled and finally began to relax, as the tears stopped. He seemed to have expended some of his trauma and felt grounded in Jensen’s embrace, at the moment. Morgan watched him yawn and start to blink more heavily. 

Jensen rubbed the younger man’s back, as Jared mumbled, “I can’t believe I’m here...I didn’t think...I was going to live.” Jensen closed his eyes and kissed Jared’s head, holding him there just to breathe him in for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes and looked at Jeff, the older man seemed to be battling his own threatening waterworks. 

Jensen spoke softly into Jared’s hair, “I want you to get some rest now, do you think you can do that?” When Jared didn’t answer, Jensen glanced at his friend again, whose look indicated that Jared was pretty much already falling asleep. Jensen carefully laid him back on the inclined bed. He smoothed Jared’s hair back from his face, while Jared yawned and melted into the covers. 

He blinked through his tiredness, sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep right now, but willing to at least lay here and rest awhile. He turned to his right, but when his bruises grabbed at the position, Jensen took an offered pillow from JD and squished it into the right side of Jared’s stomach. Jared melted into the newfound comfortable feeling with a sigh. He shivered, so Jensen pulled the covers up more and nestled them around him.

He played with Jared’s hair a few minutes and watched him fight sleep. Jensen prayed they hadn’t triggered other painful crap Jared hadn’t disclosed yet. The last thing he wanted was to overload the accountant’s mind with too many trauma’s at one time. Jensen’s comforting presence soothed Jared into dreamland pretty quickly after that. Jensen checked his watched, noting it was just after two thirty.

When Jared seemed to be far off in REM, Jensen stood up and walked over to the window. He slammed his hands against the window sill and leaned against it, face down. He was so fucking pissed, but he’d managed to keep it at bay for Jared’s sake. Morgan stepped over to him, “Be proud of him.” 

Jensen argued, “I AM,” then jerked away from the window and stepped toward the back of the room, rubbing his hands over his head. He laced his fingers behind his head and sighed with some annoyance, “I’m just never letting him out into fucking public again without four armed guards...AND me.” 

Morgan watched his friend knowingly, “I get it... and you’re entitled. He’s the other half to your soul...the ‘better’ half.” Jensen sighed, finally letting go of his anger long enough to look at his friend, “That he is.” 

The detectives called their teams back home and in Ottawa. They went over the latest information from Jared, then agreed Wallace could pay them a visit the next morning. Jensen warned the man he still might not be interviewing Jared for too many details, but Wallace was more interested in some of the processes for the on line procedures and a couple timeline questions. 

They played an hour of pinnacle and poker, then watched Jared’s tiny tv while they snoozed in the corner chair and couch. They woke to grab some sodas and Jensen made a quick call to one of his detectives for a favor. Morgan chuckled and shook his head, as he listened to Jensen ask one of his team to feed the cats in Jared’s back yard. 

The detective on the other end was happy to do it, but JD thought it was priceless that a man who hated cats would do such a thing. “Aaaah, love,” he drawled out, as Jensen hung up his phone and told him to “Shut up.” 

Dinner had come and gone. It was now after six, which meant Jared had slept well over three hours. Jensen checked on him when he adjusted slightly, but the accountant obviously wasn’t ready to come out of dreamland yet. “He can’t dehydrate with that iv in, at least,” JD commented, knowing Jensen was becoming more worried by the minute. 

Jensen sighed, “Yeah, I guess so.” He felt Jared’s forehead, then asked JD to go tell a nurse the kid felt too warm. JD returned within half a minute, a nurse in tow. She checked Jared’s temp, then showed it to Jensen, ‘101.2’. “Damn,” Jensen muttered, then felt the slight shiver from his lover. He pulled the covers up a few inches, while Jared’s nurse injected some Tylenol into his iv line. She told Jensen it was low grade, and could just be a reaction from being up and around the first time after so much trauma. They would watch him and make sure it went down. 

She took his vitals and everything looked stable, even Jared’s oxygen level was closer to eighty. “That’s a plus,” Morgan said, after the nurse cleaned up and took out Jared’s dinner cart. Jensen smoothed his loose hair to the side, so it wouldn’t cover his lover’s face. He finally gave into Morgan’s nagging and joined him at the table for more card games. 

Jared felt something cold touch his back, then his chest. It caused him to shiver, but then warmth surrounded him up to his neck and he drifted back into weightlessness.   
He twitched slightly, but the detectives at the table didn’t notice. When a nurse came in with supplies in her hand for a dressing change, they glanced at Jared, then went back to their game. The nurse had done this before and there wasn’t any problem. She set the items down, then put her gloves on. 

Jared rolled slightly back toward the center of the hospital bed, but didn’t open his eyes. There was a hitch in his breathing, but the nurse felt it safe to continue when he made no further movements. In the middle of darkness, Jared was suddenly being pulled by his collar from the couch and screamed at by Murray and Barron, “WHAT DID YOU FUCKING DO? I’M GOING TO FUCKING GUT YOU IF YOU KEEP FIGHTING,” Murray sneered into Jared’s ear, holding him painfully tight across his injured mouth. “NOOOOOO,” he screamed behind Murrays hand, as something sharp was pushed into his neck and hot blood rolled down his skin. It was excruciating. He was going to die.   
Jared screamed, as Murray laughed and pushed the blade in more. Barron lifted something metal that clamped painfully onto his wrists. 

The nurse had barely removed one corner of tape on Jared’s bandage when he screamed, “NOOOOOOO.” The sergeants jumped up and raced to the bedside, as Jared pushed the offending nurse’s hands away and grabbed for his throat. He turned his face and pushed at some invisible enemy. Jensen went for the hands first, trying to keep Jared from breaking open the cuts on his face and neck. 

JD grabbed for the flailing left hand from his side of the bed, but when he grasped Jared’s wrist, the kid jerked his hand away and screamed, “STOP.” The iv jerked out of his hand when it happened. Jensen tried to hold him down without hurting him, but the trapped feeling caused Jared to panic further and he screamed. Jensen encircled arms around Jared’s shoulders and held him tight while Jared choked and heaved for air. 

“JARED,” Jensen shook him slightly, “JARED, WAKE UP...BREATHE!” Jensen‘s heightened panic was clear in his voice when Jared didn’t respond, “JARED BREATHE,” he shook him again, “JARED BREATHE IT’S NOT REAL, BUDDY, BREATHE.” 

The nurse grabbed for Jared’s left hand to stop the bleeding vein, but JD blocked her hand, “No.” She looked argumentative, but he cut her off, “Not yet.” Jensen continued his words, toning his volume a bit, as Jared started to take in gasps of air, in between choking, “Jared, you’re safe...breathe, buddy, come on.” 

Jared’s eyes half opened. He started to sob, still choking and gasping in between. The terror in his eyes broke Jensen’s heart, “Jared, whatever you’re seeing right now, it’s not real...it’s just a bad dream. I’ve got you, love, you’re safe.” Jared sobbed heavier, but he was now getting air again. He seemed to stop fighting, or just ran out of steam. 

Morgan felt his own heart walls deteriorating from this poor kid’s pain. He noticed the hand that was now bleeding down Jared’s arm and brought it to Jensen’s attention, “Jensen” he warned. Jensen glanced over at JD, then down at the hand when JD motioned toward it. ‘Shit,’ Jensen thought, having just noticed it. 

Jensen let his grip go a bit just to smooth Jared’s hair back. This was a familiar gesture Jared knew...it always calmed him down. The younger man sobbed openly, but had stopped any struggles. “That’s it, Jare, you’re safe. That was just a bad dream, and you’re safe. You remember where you are now?” 

Jared’s sobs continued, but he nodded. Jensen continued his soothing ministrations, “You’re hand’s bleeding, buddy. The nurse needs to fix it up for you, can she touch your hand?” Jensen kept rubbing Jared’s hair until the accountant nodded. He commented over his shoulder to the nurse, “Go slow,” then turned back at Jared, “I gotcha.”

The nurse pulled gently on Jared’s hand until he went with it. She cleaned and bandaged the wound, while Morgan supported the hand for her. When she was finished, Morgan let Jared quickly pulled his hand back into the safety of his chest. They would worry about the blood spattered bedding and Jensen’s shirt later. 

Jared didn’t look anyone’s way. He was obviously responding to Jensen’s touch, but he felt absolutely no desire to deal with the outside world right now. His sobs finally quieted, but the raw feelings still lingered of being in that tunnel with Murray and Barron. It was embarrassing...to lose it like this...to wake up like this. He was a grown man, for chrissakes, but Jared could still feel it all, smell it all, hear the voices. 

Jared started to sob again, more quietly. The release kept coming and he couldn’t stop it. He wanted to be stronger, but it was like he had no control. He was so angry at himself for feeling helpless. “Hey,” Jensen said softly, “this isn’t your fault this is happening. You’re safe now. Your mind’s not quite convinced of that yet, but it’ll get there.” 

Jensen slipped his arms tighter around Jared’s shoulders and pulled him away from the inclined bed enough to hold him in his arms. He coaxed Jared to lay his head on his shoulder and melt into his heat. Jensen kissed the back of his head, “It’s gonna get better, I promise.” 

Jared twisted his hands into the soft shirt at Jensen’s waist. He rode out his tears, then closed his eyes and sighed, letting Jensen’s comfort saturate his whole being. The sobs slowed to nothing, and soon he lay quiet in Jensen’s hold. Jensen lifted his head and glanced at Morgan, who quickly cleared his throat and adjusted his stance. Jensen saw residual wetness in the older man’s eyes but he didn’t mention it. 

Jared didn’t deserve any of this shit and it was hard for the seasoned professionals to accept. The nurse spoke softly to both men, “Without the iv, he’ll dehydrate fast without fluids. If you can, try and get him to drink as much as possible, then I can leave it out. I can bring him his meds orally when it’s time.” 

Jensen nodded, then turned into Jared’s hair again and softly coaxed, “Hey, you awake?” Jared’s soft broken “Yeah” was barely audible. Jensen kissed his head, “I’m going to lay you back so we can change that bandage on your neck, would you be okay with that?” Instead of answering, Jared pulled back, so Jensen loosened his hold and let the younger man lean back on the bed. 

Jared looked elsewhere and swiped at his eyes. Jensen glanced at the nurse, then put his eyes back on Jared, who seemed to be calm and completely back in the present. Jensen took one of his hands and held it. The accountant’s face was drawn and exhausted, spent, but he lay calmly and waited for the nurse to finish her dressing change.

Jared seemed docile and uncaring until his nurse turned to clean up the discarded mess. He spoke softly, “Thank you. I’m sorry.” She glanced between the other men, then leaned in toward her patient with kind eyes, “Sweetie, please don’t be sorry. It’s okay. I’m very sorry for scaring you like that.” Jared remained silent, but offered a half smile, probably for her benefit but it didn’t really match his eyes. 

Morgan filled a water cup from the roll cart, then handed it to Jensen with a straw. Jensen held it in front of Jared’s line of sight, “Thirsty?” Jared surprised them both when he answered “Yeah,” and took the cup. After downing the whole thing, he asked in a gravelly voice for more. Morgan quickly filled another cup and handed it to Jensen, who gave it to Jared. 

Jared sucked down the entire second cup too. “Kid’s dry,” Morgan commented, smirking as Jensen handed him the empty cup. Morgan filled the cup once more and Jensen offered it to Jared. He drank about half, then handed it back saying, “Thank you.” Jensen moved Jared’s hair away from his face and planted himself on the stool beside the bed. He eyes remained fixed on the accountant, for now.

Jensen asked, “You tired?” Jared guffawed in a mocking snicker and shook his head, “I’m not going back to sleep...ever.” Jensen rubbed his thumb back and forth on the younger man’s hand, “I get that.” He assessed Jared’s demeanor for a few minutes, watching the tired eyes too filled with anxiety to sleep. 

Jensen figured Jared had to be starving by now, so he asked, “You hungry?” Jared turned his head and looked at him, finally meeting Jensen’s eyes directly. Jared thought it over for a few seconds, “Yeah, I think so.” He really wasn’t in the mood to eat, but his stomach was in knots from being empty too long.

Jensen glanced at Morgan, who was already on it and leaving the room to seek out a late dinner for the kid. Jared looked at Jensen with guilt in his beautiful eyes, “I’m so sorry to wake up like that.” Jensen squeezed his hand, “Hey...you have nothing to be sorry about. Everything you’re going through is those asshole’s faults and we’re gonna kick it together so you can put this behind you, okay?” Jared nodded with a soft smile, “Okay.” 

Morgan returned, looking proud of his handiwork as he placed a few various colored containers on Jared’s rolling cart. Jared watched him with a soft grin, feeling overwhelmingly grateful. Jared yawned but lifted his head up and looked at the cart eagerly, as Morgan rolled it over his lap. Jared looked up at JD with sincere gratitude, “Thank you.”

The older man grinned a bit shyly, “You’re welcome, sport. Any time. I couldn’t find any beer, but there’s gotta be a few good things.” Jared giggled softly and started uncovering several items, as the two detectives shared a knowing smirk. Jensen sat in the corner chair and kicked back comfortably, while Jared partook in his meal. 

JD went to clean up the strewn about deck of cards from the floor around the table, then plopped down on the couch. He clicked between channels on the tv and landed on some comedy. Jared rolled his eyes in pleasure at the chicken strips and apple juice he downed first. After that, he ate a dinner roll and some french fries. Jesus, he felt better. Maybe the food was hitting his bloodstream, but he suddenly felt like he could move planets. 

The nurse came back with Jared’s medication. He looked in the paper cup and took the huge ibuprofen first, then handed the cup back to her, “I don’t think I need that other one anymore, can I skip it?” The nurse stared at Jared a few seconds, assessing, “Are you sure? You’re not hurting right now?” Jared shook his head, “No. I mean I’m sore, but it’s better. I just don’t think I need that one anymore.” 

The nurse accepted the refusal, but assured Jared that if he felt in pain he could still ask for it. He thanked her and she left. The room was silent for awhile. Jared found one of the lemon lime soda’s he liked and started sipping it, then he opened a paper wrapper to find two peanut butter cookies inside. “Uh, God,” he rolled his eyes in pleasure as the taste of them exploded into his taste buds. The detectives grinned, happy their accounting expert seemed to be perkier and enjoying his treats. 

After leaning back and letting his food dissolve a while, Jared announced he needed a bathroom trip. “Finally,” Jensen barked. To Jared’s double take, he explained, “It’s been quite a few hours, that’s all...I’m just glad the fluids are moving.” Jared looked down with a shy grin, “Oh,” then started to roll himself to the left side of the bed. 

The older men rushed to the bedside to take up a spot on either side of Jared, noticing right away how much faster he had achieved a sitting up position. It had obviously cost him, though. Jensen bent his head down to look into the younger man’s face, “You okay?” Jared breathed through a bit of hurtful adjustment period, but soon nodded and answered, “Yes, good.” 

Morgan grumbled, concerned, “You did that awful fast, champ, you sure?” Jared glanced his way, “I guess I just feel better. It hurts, but it’s better. I think I can do this on my own now.” Jensen’s eyebrow perked up, as he studied Jared’s hopeful look, “Well, let’s just give it a whirl and then we’ll decide if you’re solo, or not.” 

Jared stood up with them supporting him. He waited a moment while Jensen removed the cannula. Everything felt good, so he walked into the bathroom with their support. Morgan shook his head, “We’re not gonna be able to catch him by tomorrow.” Jensen smirked, but he kept his grip on Jared, as they closed the door and left Morgan just outside. 

As they walked out, Jared asked if he could walk around. At Jensen’s immediate look of uncertainty, Jared pleaded with heartfelt longing, “Just a little?” Jensen walked him out into the hallway, past the nurses desk, then back into the room to look out the window. Jared studied the hospital parking lot for the first time. There were dark shadows of surrounding trees, but it was too dark to enjoy them. 

Jared begged them to let him sit at the table for awhile. The two detectives knew damn well he was exhausting himself, but they didn’t argue. After watching tv reruns together for awhile, Morgan bitched about getting old and headed for the waiting room with his pillow and blanket. It was past eleven now. Jensen smiled, as he watched Jared yawn and blink heavily. He smoothed the hair back from Jared’s face, “You ready to get back in the bed now?” 

Instead of answering, Jared tiredly looked toward the bed and started to hoist himself up. Jensen put his hand under the accountant’s underarm and supported some of his weight. He helped Jared get into the bed and pulled the covers over him. Jensen put the oxygen cannula back into place, then brushed the hair aside and leaned in close to kiss Jared gently. He had to be mindful of the top lip that had a stitch in it. 

Jensen looked into his lover’s sleepy eyes, “I love you, you know.” Jared yawned, then smiled sleepily, “I love you too. I jus’ w’nna be home with you.” Jensen sat on the stool next to him and held his hand, “You know I’m right here, right? I’m not gonna let anybody hurt you and it’s okay to sleep.” Jared smiled gently again and nodded.

Jensen rested on his elbows and watched Jared until he was sure he was lost in deep peaceful slumber. He decided to sleep on the reclining chair in the corner, only a few feet away, in case Jared needed him. Close to seven a.m., Jensen woke to drool running down his chin. He was sure he’d been snoring like a buzz saw if his dry throat was any indication. 

He stretched and rubbed his race, feeling seventy five from sleeping in the chair. One look at Jared told him the accountant would still be out for awhile, so Jensen took a few minutes to clean up in Jared’s bathroom. After he came out, Morgan sailed into the room with two steaming cups of coffee. 

Jensen eagerly grabbed for one, “Aaah, sweet.” He sipped twice, then grumbled when he noticed his friend looked awfully fresh and chipper, “Well, don’t you look pretty.” Morgan proudly exclaimed, “Smell pretty too...I used the shower downstairs again and I think that couch in the waiting room is getting more comfortable with my permanent indentations. Called and talked to Mary this morning. She had early shift today so she was up. How’s our brainiac wonder doing?” 

Jensen glanced at Jared, as he answered, “He’s probably exhausted. Finally ran himself out of steam after you left.” He looked back at his friend, “I can’t imagine them not letting him go today...the guy is probably gonna be bouncing off the walls when he wakes.” Morgan agreed, “Well, the plane lands at one, so if it all works out, he’ll be happily back home before too late tonight.” 

Jensen started to feel more alive, after several more sips of his morning treat. He and Morgan leaned against the window sill and watched nurses arrive and perform vital checks. Jared didn’t even rouse from the invasive pen light routine. Another attendant brought in breakfast and left it on Jared’s tray.

Wallace called Jensen, asking to come by and ask Jared some questions. Jensen asked him to wait until nine to give Jared time to wake and eat. Morgan’s phone vibrated, which was the rest of their teams wanting to come by and see Jared. Both detectives joked at the line Jared was going to have of people waiting to see him. 

Jensen stared at his lover and stewed silently. He really wasn’t keen on anyone asking Jared questions right now. Jared had just slept through the night, successfully, without nightmares, and the thought of triggering up more trauma worried him. Being the professional cop he was, however, he knew it had to be done.

“Hey,” Morgan elbowed him to get his attention, “I know you’re worried...but we’ll be here and we’ll control it.” Jensen nodded, “I know,” then half smiled at JD. Jared finally stirred a little after eight. Morgan had gone to the cafeteria to grab he and Jensen breakfast. Jensen went to the bedside and gently smoothed the hair from Jared’s face.

Jared yawned, then Jensen watched him open his sleepy eyes and focus on him. Jared greeted him with a dreamy smile, “Hi.” Jensen smiled back, “Hi.” He leaned in and kissed Jared gently on the lips, then pulled back to stare into his eyes. He happily couldn’t find any fear or pain in the stunning predominantly grey eyes this morning. 

Jensen asked, “How are you feeling?” Jared gave Jensen his most saddened puppy expression yet, “I’m fine, I just don’t wanna be here anymore. Is the plane here?” Jensen rubbed his hair and kissed him again, “It’s coming...and yes, we’re getting you out of here today, okay?” 

Jared smiled in relief, then changed to a look of concentration, “I have to go.” Jensen backed off, as his mind registered how alert and well his lover seemed this morning. ‘Holy crap,’ it was astonishing to see how fast Jared bounced back from something. Jensen assisted Jared only when he stood up. The younger man had scooted and rolled into a sitting position by himself, with only a squint and cringe at his painful midriff section. Everything else seemed to be cooperating. 

Jensen removed the cannula for him, then held him under his armpit as Jared blinked the last of the cobwebs from his eyes and started to shuffle forward. Jared headed into the bathroom alone, glancing back at Jensen with a knowing grin of happiness that he was indeed feeling much better.

Jared spent several minutes in the bathroom. He used all the hygienic supplies Jensen had left for him, expect the shampoo. He soaped a rag with hot water and took a sponge bath to clean all the places that had been devoid of soap the last few days. He felt much better about smelling fresh and ‘soapy’ when he came out. 

Jared’s eyes landed on the breakfast tray and his stomach rumbled. Jensen had been sitting on the bed waiting for him. He grinned when he heard Jared’s stomach, “You hungry?” Jared looked around the room and yawned again while nodding, “Yeah, but I’m sick of that stupid bed. Can I sit with you and JD?” 

Jensen jumped up, “Of course you can,” then went over to move the two chairs and stool around the table. Jared carefully took the time to bend different ways and test out his body. The bruises weren’t too bad everywhere. Only that mid-torso gave him an angry tightened response when he attempted to twist and stretch it out a bit. 

Jensen saw the wince and slipped his arms around Jared’s waist. “Hey,” he looked into his eyes, “take it easy on the bod, alright? I have a fondness for that body and it’s been through enough.” Jared grinned, then looked down shyly. He responded, “Yes sir,” as Jensen helped him into one of the chairs and retrieved his tray for him. 

Jared couldn’t believe how fun this was...just to eat somewhere else instead of in bed. He was almost out of here, the horrific shit was over and Jensen was here. His body felt so much better and ‘damn’ this was good day. ‘Except for this fucking outfit,’ he thought to himself. 

Morgan came back in with trays for he and Jensen. He was delighted to see their numbers expert sitting at the table like a champ. “Hey kiddo, how you doin?” Morgan asked that, as he placed scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits down for them. Jared stopped in the middle of uncovering his own eggs, bacon and waffle to smile up at JD, “Much better, thank you.” 

Morgan sat down and grumbled, “No, kiddo, thank YOU. You getting well deserves my gratitude so I don’t have to deal with worry wort mother hen over here who was stressing himself into a stroke while you were down.” Jared glanced at Jensen with loving concern, just in time to see the older man roll his eyes and shake his head before he sipped his coffee. Jared looked down with a smirk and started eating. 

The three made it through breakfast with various comments about what the rest of the teams were doing. Jensen made sure Jared knew there were some questions coming from Ottawa PD in a little while, but he would make sure they stopped if Jared hit a place where he didn’t want to continue. Jared didn’t care. He couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here and back to normal. 

After breakfast, Morgan announced he was going to the parking lot to meet Wallace and bring him back to Jared’s room. It gave him a chance to stretch his legs. Jensen decided he would go shower later on, after the interviews. While they were alone, Jared contemplated what it was going to be like to finally get back to normal...before Murray and Barron. He wanted to go for a run, make his own meals, make love to Jensen and...

“Huh?” Jared realized his lover had asked him something but he missed it. Jensen had cleaned up the trash and bent over to look into Jared’s distracted face. He smirked at the innocent reaction, “I was wondering if you were planning on sprinting down the hall and escaping, and do I need to be on my toes for that?” 

Jared smirked, “No,” looking down shyly. He looked back up at Jensen, “It’s just good to feel almost normal. ‘Almost’ except for this stupid outfit. I hate it.” Jensen held up a finger, “Ah! Lemme go get something for you,” then went over to the cupboard in the corner of the room. He pulled out Jared’s carryon bag the team had found in the tunnel and Jared’s face lit up when he saw it, “You found it?” 

Jensen brought it to him with a grin, “Yep, the guys brought it the other day. If you want to change, I’ll help you.” Jared couldn’t believe it. He was so happy to have his bag with his own clothes in it. His drug induced brain just deduced this was where Jensen had retrieved all the familiar hygiene supplies for him. He opened the zipper and pulled out a soft pair of faded jeans and t-shirt, some underwear and socks. There was a flannel but he left it in there for now.

The two men worked together in Jared’s restroom, carefully getting him into his own clothes. Jared couldn’t bend too well, so he definitely needed help with underwear and pants. He winced slightly when he lifted his arms into his shirt, but it wasn’t unbearable. Everything aside from is bruised lungs and diaphragm was just sore. Jared tilted his head back and sighed in heaven when he felt surrounded by his own washed and worn things. 

Jensen held him loosely around his waist while grinning. The accounting expert was definitely feeling good. Jared finally looked at him with such loving gratitude, Jensen was taken back by it. Jared slid his arms around the older man’s shoulders and moved into his embrace. They hugged for awhile, holding each other until they both felt grounded before greeting the slew of voices they could hear outside the bathroom door. 

Jared sailed through most of the discussions. He was overly grateful, thanking Wallace and his officers several times in between questions. Their joy was obvious at seeing Jared looking so good. The last time they’d seen him, Jared had been barely alive. Wallace explained everything they had managed to accomplish, then opened a Mac on the table and introduced his tech expert who showed Jared all the accounts and links they had managed to link to his original twenty seven. 

This was the first time Jared had seen the results of his handiwork. The network of these black market criminals was endless and his information had started the detectives on a crusade to identify hundreds of other players. Jared helped them identify some of the coding on transactions and deciphered wire transfer recipients and senders. He showed them how he had arranged the donations from the criminal accounts. 

The group of visitors took a break when Jared’s doctor and a nurse showed up. The doctor allowed Jared to stay in the chair and listened to his lungs first. He lifted the young man’s shirt and checked for worsening signs of accumulated blood under the skin but could find none. After checking for nodules, pupil reactions and looking in Jared’s ears and nose, he explained, “I’m gonna have you do a lung capacity test. I can already see you’re probably back in the eighties, but I just want to be sure, okay?” 

Jared nodded, having no idea what the hell that was. The nurse set up a portable machine, while the doctor sat by Jared. He took his pulse and checked some of his cuts and scrapes. When the nurse was ready, she had Jared take a deep breath and blow painfully into a tube. It was incredibly hard with his gut in this condition. ‘Fuck,’ he almost didn’t think he was gonna make it when she told him to do it again. 

When the machine beeped and Jared was allowed to relax, he struggled to recover his breathing and deal with the painful hot gripping of his muscles. The doctor read the screen, then looked pleased, “Very nice. Eighty four.” He looked at Jared with a smile, “I’ll go get your release going. You need to take it very easy for a few days, then you can gradually do activity as you feel up to it. I’ll send you home with ibuprofen and some backup pain pills for a couple days in case you over do it, but other than that, just baby that area, okay?” 

Jared managed to grin his thanks, even though his eyes were barely able to control the waterworks that had threatened with that excruciating fucking test. Christ, couldn’t they invent something better?” When the doctor was gone, Jensen came from the couch and sat in front of him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and took Jared’s hands in his. 

Jensen’s thumbs rubbed back and forth, as he watched the accountant calm his insides back to a peaceful acceptance after that experience. “I’m sorry,” Jensen said, his eyes filled with anxious compassion, “are you alright?” Jared half smiled and nodded with his soft response, “Yeah.” 

Jensen waited a few seconds, still looking highly concerned. Finally he spoke, “I know Wallace has more questions and they’re going to be more about the kidnapping and some of your treatment at the hands of those assholes. Are you up to that or do you want me to send them packing?” 

Jared tried to look reassuring as he nodded, “It’s okay,” but he looked to the side. Jensen decided maybe the less people hovering over him, the better, for this part. Jared obviously wasn’t looking forward to it. He told him he would be right back then went outside to talk to everyone. Jensen returned with only Wallace and Morgan. The rest of the bunch had been sent away. 

Jared looked slightly confused for a second, but he didn’t comment. Jensen gently pulled Jared to stand and escorted him to the couch. For something like this, it was better to put victims in a very comfortable position. Jensen helped his lover lower into the soft cushions and lay back, then sat next to him. Morgan brought him a cup of water, and everyone waited for the younger man to drink it. 

Jensen took Jared’s hand and held it, while Morgan put the cup back and returned to sit at the table, facing them. Jared felt a little on display, but not as bad as he would have with all those other people in there. First, Wallace first asked him to pinpoint when exactly Jared felt kidnapped. Jared hadn’t expected that. He thought it over. 

After a few seconds, Jared explained he didn’t know until Jensen warned him they weren’t going to Tallahassee. In the bathroom at Chicago, however, his bosses cornered him and confronted him about dating a cop and took his phone, so that was probably more when he officially felt like he didn’t have a way out. 

Jared said, “I thought about running...anywhere...but the executive wing was filled with business people like them who had private planes. I didn’t know who was on their side, or who wasn’t. I thought running might backfire, plus they assigned that annoying kiss ass to follow me.” 

Jensen exchanged a look with Wallace, who responded with a knowing nod, “Gil.” Jared nodded, but looked down and didn’t say anything. Wallace asked Jared when the first threat came that they were going to kill him. It was important for the attempted murder and kidnapping charges they were going to pin on Barron. 

Jared had to think about it before answering, “I think...I think I was afraid of it when I knew what else they had done to the prowler in my yard, but they didn’t actually ‘say’ it to me, in the beginning. I heard them say it when I was eavesdropping...that’s when they argued in another office about Murray’s secret deals. Barron said they’d make it quick and painless and how it was a shame to lose me.” 

Jared snickered mockingly, “They were so casual...like they really liked me. They said things like ‘we have to wait ‘til after the last deal cuz we need him’...and ‘oh, but it’s a shame, he’s so good’... and ‘yeah, we’ll make it painless for the kid.” Jared shook his head, “I couldn’t believe they were so nonchalant about it...that’s right before I text Jensen about Reiner.” 

Jared suddenly looked at Jensen, “Did they kill him?” Jensen said, “No...we separated him when you text me, so he’s still alive, but there was an attempt. He’s facing some additional charges too from all this.” Jared looked at Wallace. The sergeant was more hesitant with the next question, “So, we know you overheard them talking about it, but I need to know...when did you actually get threatened directly...was it by one or both of them?” 

Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand when he saw some of the haunted memories had returned in Jared’s eyes. Jared inhaled deeply, then blew it out slowly before he answered, “When I moved the money, I set it to happen an hour after. I wasn’t thinking...it just seemed like it would be a longer amount of time. It took awhile longer to finish everything up before they walked their partners out.” 

Jared paused and swallowed, frustrated that this was affecting him so much, “They got some kind of a bank warning, I guess.” When Jared paused again, Jensen moved his right hand to the accountant’s back, leaving his left hand holding Jared’s. Jared continued, “They came back and flew off the handle in a rage. Barron was...Barron was pissed. He knew. Murray was clueless until Barron told him to look at his phone.” 

Jared looked between the two sergeants, “That was it. They knew what I’d done. They screamed at me about it, then told me they were gonna kill me slow and painful, then they started punching me. One of them stopped it...something about needing me to get to the plane so they couldn’t kill me yet.”

Jared looked down when he became upset, “I cant remember which one it was...I’m sorry, I can’t remember who said it.” Jensen rubbed his back, “It’s okay...it’s perfectly okay, you’re doing great, Jared.” He glanced at the Ottawa sergeant, silently relaying to him that they needed to tread lightly. Wallace asked, “This was all before you entered the tunnel, correct?” 

Jared nodded silently. Wallace continued, “So from there, you were forced through the tunnel. We know it was rough on you from your injuries and I’m not about to ask you to address any of those horrible scenes in detail. I do, however, have to ask you about Gil Gerard, the additional accountant.” 

Jared stiffened visibly, as he glanced at Wallace and Jensen. He became a little nervous, asking, “Why? What do you wanna know?” Wallace continued, “Was he being forced into the tunnels, to go with them?” Jared shook his head, “No. He didn’t need to be forced. He was a total company guy who wanted to please them. When I argued with him before, he just told me doing illegal stuff for them was easy if you pretend it’s not what it really is.” 

Wallace asked, “So why did they shoot him? Did he screw them over somehow?” Jared glanced between the other men, trying hard not to hear the resounding echo of the muffled gunshots before Gil fell in a pool of blood. “Uhm,” Jared cleared his throat, “He didn’t tell them about my text to you in the church, but later in the tunnel...he was trying to kiss their asses...win some points, so he spilled the beans. Son of a bitch just blurted it out.”

Jared paused and looked down, trying to get a handle on losing his emotions again before he said anymore. After a few seconds, he continued, “He knew they were already gonna kill me...they were already pissed about the money. He told them anyway.” 

Jared turned to Wallace and added, “Murray had me from behind...he cut me and enjoyed just sticking it in deeper.” Jared’s hand went to his bandage, as he looked at the floor and continued, “I kicked Barron when he tried to put chains on my wrists. It was just a reaction because I couldn’t breathe. Murray’s hand was too tight. I knew...” Jared closed his eyes, a few fresh tears escaping under the lids, “I knew the second he said that about the text they were gonna beat the shit out of me.” 

Jared became more upset. Jensen rubbed his back further, offering soothing words, “Remember to breathe, and you don’t have to do this right now, if you don’t want to. You can stop, if you want.” Jared glanced up at them both, the haunting memories plain on his face, as he forced himself to continue anyway, “After...Barron punched me and kicked me, he turned on Gil.” 

Jared swallowed and inhaled with his eyes closed, as he continued, “I remember thinking how stupid he was, expecting gratitude and approval from the assholes.” Jared opened his eyes, looking forward at the scene he was replaying for them, “He backed up. Panicked. Barron told him he was weak. He couldn’t trust him because he didn’t have a backbone.” Jared guffawed with mocking humor, “He actually told him that at least he knew where I stood.” 

Jared’s tears came, “Gil screamed. I could see the panic in his face when he realized.” Jared sobbed, his anxiety escalating, “Barron just killed him. He just...shot, but...it wasn’t even real...there was so much blood...his stomach just pooled with it when he fell back and...it was supposed to be louder, I mean,” Jared looked at the sergeants, “the shots were supposed to be louder, right?” 

Jensen gave Wallace a silent signal that the interview was over, as he pulled Jared’s head to his shoulder. He held his head to him while he rubbed comforting circles on Jared’s back. “It’s okay,” he spoke into Jared’s hair, “It’s over and you don’t have to do this anymore. It’s okay, Jare.” Jensen continued to coax Jared back down for a moment, then looked at Wallace. 

The Ottawa sergeant nodded in silent understanding, indicating he had everything he needed, then spoke softly to Jared, “Jared, thank you for going through that for me. I know it was painful. All you have to do is rest and get better now...hopefully put all of this behind you, okay?” Jared didn’t respond, but he seemed to calm down. Jensen let his hand fall from Jared’s head back to the hand he was holding, but kept the other on his back. 

Jared raised up and wiped at his tears with his free hand. Wallace added one more comment, “You undeniably are one of the bravest victims I’ve ever met, Jared. Don’t you sell yourself short. You kicked ass during your horrible ordeal and we’re so damn happy you’re going to be okay.” He put his hand out, to which Jared stared at it for a couple seconds before taking it. 

Wallace left and Jared immediately asked the other two sergeants, who were quiet, “So when is the plane leaving?” Jensen checked his watch. It was only eleven, but he knew his favorite accountant really wanted to get out of here. “Two hours, kiddo,” he answered. Jared nodded. He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands on his pant legs. He supposed that wasn’t too bad. 

Morgan had to admit he was quite impressed with Jensen’s self control. Listening to Jared’s shitty experience with those assholes hadn’t easy. On his way out, Wallace told Morgan he would come back and give them a ride to the airport. His whole team really wanted to see them off, anyway.

The three men sat quiet for awhile. The two sergeants allowed Jared time to process everything. When the younger man finally started to get up, Jensen stood to help steady him. “Thanks,” Jared mumbled, “I need to use the bathroom.” Jensen supported him to the bathroom, then let him go in alone without a word. This was Jared’s lead for now. The younger man needed to feel independent and both older men knew it. 

When Jared came back out, two nurses arrived, one with a load of paperwork and some medicine, the other with some towels and a large bottle. Jared greeted them with polite curiosity, as Jensen and Morgan watched the exchange. Jensen raised an eyebrow over what he saw, ‘Well, I’ll be goddamned.’ 

Morgan smirked at him when he realized the two nurses had turned into gushing idiots over the cute accountant. Jensen shook his head. Jared was adorably clueless. One nurse showed him the bottle in her hand, which apparently was a form of waterless shampoo. “Oh,” Jared said in eager surprise, looking way to overly grateful that someone would offer to do that for him. 

Jensen watched him charm the two, thinking those women just wanted to get their fingers into those beautiful locks before their patient got released. When Jared gratefully accepted the offer for clean hair, the one nurse set up the supplies on the rolling cart, wheeling it close to one of the chairs.

In the meantime, the other nurse went over Jared’s release orders. Jensen paid attention to that, listening to the rest and medication orders, movement restrictions, and all the warnings about what to look out for. Jared signed in a few places and she handed Jensen the bag of medicine. 

Jared was coaxed over to the chair by both nurses. One nurse held a bin under his hair while he leaned his head back for them. The other nurse held a dry rag over his forehead. Together, they sprayed Jared’s hair with the solution, then worked it around with fingertips. Jensen sat next to JD and shook his head at the total delight on their faces. Morgan chuckled. Again, their accountant was innocently charming and grateful, clueless to the last. 

Jared’s hair had been towel dried for a little bit longer than was probably necessary. Jensen had to admit, though, the happiness in his eyes was worth the process. His accountant hadn’t been happy with dirty hair, now he was happy. His face was glowing, even with the bruises and cut on his lip. 

Wallace arrived at twelve thirty in a large SUV. He came to the room and handed Jensen a puffy winter coat. When he held it up to Jared, the younger man looked at Jensen in question. Jensen explained, “It’s thirty four outside and I didn’t see one in your bag.” Jared looked at the jacket, “Oh,” then pushed his arms into the sleeves. He hadn’t realized everyone had coats on but him. 

When they went outside, Jared shivered from the icy sting on his skin. Wallace smiled at him, “That’s our Canada.” Jensen’s and Morgan’s officers had bonded quickly with their new Ottawa friends. When the sergeants pulled up with Jared, the group had been standing in a circle talking and laughing. Everyone instantly surrounded Jared, dying to finally get their eyes on the kid. They helped him out of the car and bombarded him with pats and hand shakes. 

Jared felt overwhelmed with it all, but he made sure to thank them over and over for helping save him and save some of the trafficking victims. Jensen and Morgan delivered their own thanks to the whole Canadian team before everyone boarded the plane. They took the stairs slow, stopping every few just to let Jared catch his breath. He wasn’t used to being this low on strength and it was frustrating. 

Morgan encouraged Jared from behind, “Just take it easy and give your body some slack for what it’s been through, okay?” Jensen climbed up in front of him, keeping his head turned back to watch Jared. Together they made it inside and chose their own seating. Jensen led Jared toward the back of the plane where a loveseat sized sofa was next to a table and reclining chair. The accountant could definitely stretch out if he got tired. 

Jared silently celebrated when they were in the air. No more crappy hospital bed, no needles and oxygen tubes. No catheter. ‘God,’ he mentally ranted, when his mind landed on that particular offensive tube. Overall, he was lucky. Things were pretty terrifying for awhile there, but that part was over and he was going home with the best new part of his life. 

Jared looked over and realized Jensen had been watching him. The older man grinned, knowing Jared hadn’t realized he’d been so on display. Jared looked down with a shy grin, showing that dimple which Jensen had no defense to. The older man moved over and sat next to him. 

“Hey,” Jensen said. When Jared looked up, he saw the beautiful green eyes filled with loving adoration locked on him, “It’s hard to stop staring, you know. You’re so much better...and I didn’t lose you...and those assholes are no longer your bosses...AND...I get to take you home with me. I’m so fucking grateful you’re still with me, you have no idea.”

Jared argued softly, with just as much love and adoration in his own gaze, “I do, though. There was a point when I thought ‘you’ were gonna die and I definitely knew I was going to...I’m just as thankful, believe me.” Jared held Jensen’s gaze for a few minutes, both men’s soft grins accompanied by thin layers of moisture that had formed in their eyes. Their attention on each other was interrupted with a gruff bellow, “For god’s sake, get a hotel.” 

Jensen and Jared giggled, still lingering eyes on each other for another minute before turning back to their own thoughts. When Jared yawned and rubbed his stomach from the soreness of being up for so long, Jensen helped ease him back in the reclining chair. He placed a blanket over the sleepy man and watched him zonk out within seconds. 

Morgan came up behind him and commented, “He okay?” Jensen glanced at his friend, “Yeah,” then nodded and looked back at Jared, “He’s okay, just tired.” The plane stopped in Chicago for awhile. Morgan went with the others to buy some lunch items and bring them back to the plane. They departed again within forty minutes and Jared slept through it all. 

A couple hours from Austin, Jared yawned and stirred, then stretched and finally blinked his eyes open. He zero’d in on Jensen, who was sitting on the loveseat watching him. Jared glanced around, then started to put the foot rest down. He couldn’t figure it out, but Jensen showed up within seconds and put it down for him. He hoisted Jared up to stand and walked him to the restroom.

Jared returned to his seating area to find assorted half sandwiches and salad containers spread out on the table. He pleasantly exclaimed, “Oh,” and hurriedly sat down. When he looked up and asked, “Is everyone else gonna eat,” Jensen explained, “It’s almost four. They all ate and saved this for you in the fridge.” 

Jared said, “Oh,” looking a bit confused at the late hour, but dug into the assortment with eager gratitude. He was starving. Morgan brought two Sprite’s for Jared and sat down on the recliner. He and Jensen talked about local cases their teams back in Austin were working on, then discussed coverage while Jensen took a few extra days off. 

After the lunch leftovers were cleaned up, Jensen pulled out one of Jared’s ibuprofen’s and gave it to him. Jared had forgotten he was to take them every six hours, but Jensen hadn’t. Within another hour, Jared started to yawn again, and even though he tried to fight it, fell asleep on the loveseat. Jensen lifted his feet from the floor and propped them on the end table. At least Jared wasn’t bent all cockeyed. 

The plane landed at six forty. When the wheels touched down, Jared stirred from the motion and sat up. He looked a little confused, so Jensen quickly knelt down in front of him, “We just touched down, you okay?” Jared yawned and nodded, touching Jensen on the hand, as his brain finally came back on line. Jensen brushed the hair back from the younger man’s face, then looked into his eyes. 

Jared asked with hopefulness, “Are we in Austin?” Jensen answered with a grin, “Yep. Good ole Austin.” Jared smiled in relief. Jensen helped him into a more comfortable sitting position. When the plane finally came to a stop, the whole team pulled belongings from compartments, took their own trash and headed for the door. 

Jensen helped the accountant put his jacket back on. He grabbed his own carryon and started to escort Jared forward. When Jared hesitated to look around for his bag, he heard Morgan ahead, “Sport.” When Jared looked up, Morgan was holding up his carryon for him with a grin. 

Jared wasn’t used to so many people babying him. They were so caring and helpful, but he just felt a bit useless. Outside the door, Jared noticed Morgan had waited on the top step for him, obviously planning to descend in front of Jared in case he fell. Jensen was hot on his heels. 

They descended the stairs slowly, then Jensen held the door for Jared to get in his county car. He said his goodbye’s to the team and Morgan before getting in the driver’s side. They drove to his house in silence. Jared felt an immediate wave of peace wash through him when they stepped through his front door. Now it felt truly over. 

Jensen locked the door, threw the bags on the couch, then came back to Jared, who was still standing by his dining table, looking clearly distracted by something. Jensen moved into his personal space. He met Jared’s eyes and held his face between his hands, “Hey...you alright?” 

Jared’s eyes pooled a bit. He hadn’t meant to do this but something just took over. “Sorry,” he said, “I think it’s just good to be here.” Jensen took him into his arms and they held each other for several minutes. 

They took things easy that night. Jensen ordered Thai food for delivery and they ate dinner on Jared’s thick rug, using the couch as a back rest. The fireplace was soothing. They talked about fishing and planned a ski trip in a few weeks. Jensen pulled up the website for their law enforcement challenge so Jared could see pictures from past years.

They sat shoulder to shoulder, staring at the fire. Jared blurted out, “I can’t wait to get back to the gym.” Jensen looked over at him, “You mean next weekend.” Jared glanced him, “Yes, I mean next week,” then sighed and dropped his head on the back of the couch. Jensen was ‘not’ going to let him rush things, that point was made early on this evening. 

Jared yawned and leaned his head to the side to rest it on Jensen’s shoulder. Jensen kissed his head and leaned his own over Jared’s. When Jared yawned again, Jensen remarked, “You know, I’m right here.” Jared yawned a third time, answering, “I know.” Jensen rubbed his thumb back and forth on the hand he was holding, “And you know I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, right?” 

Jared nodded from his position on Jensen’s shoulder. He knew it was late, but the idea of seeing that tunnel, hearing and feeling those things again, kept him needling consciousness for as long as he could. He hadn’t dreamt on the plane, thank god, but there were no guarantees. Jensen had given him another ibuprofen around ten thirty. It was close to midnight now. The effects of the muscle relaxant weren’t helping his cause. 

Jensen said softly, “You slept on the plane...it was pretty good.” Jared yawned again, then argued sluggishly, “I still see it. I’m just sick of it...I don’t want to see it anymore.” He turned his face into Jensen’s shoulder, the older man reached over with his right hand and played with Jared’s hair. He kissed his head, “It will get better, love.” Jared argued, “I don’t want to remember.” 

Jensen waited another twenty minutes. When he felt Jared becoming heavier, he knew the younger man was losing his battle to stay awake. Jensen gently encouraged him to get up and come with him, stopping to push the clicker for the fireplace. They made it to Jared’s bedroom, where Jensen undressed the over tired accountant down to a t-shirt and underwear, then helped him lay back on the bed. 

Jensen undressed himself to underwear, then slipped under the covers with Jared. He covered him with his heat, resting his weight on his elbows. Looking into his lover’s eyes told him Jared was exhausted. When he tenderly brushed back the hair from his face, Jared released an emotional exhale, finally admitting, “I don’t want to sleep.” 

He shook his head, “Please, I don’t want to sleep. I’m just gonna...see them and...” Jensen interrupted, “Sssshh,” rubbing Jared’s hair and kissing his face. “It’s okay,” Jensen soothed, continuing the soft kisses all around Jared’s beautiful face and under his chin. 

Jared responded with soft sighs of pleasure. He closed his eyes and started to relax. He still didn’t want to sleep, but Jensen’s touch was distracting him. God, it had been days since they could feel like this. Lovers...they were now intertwined and sharing each other’s heat. Jensen’s hot chest was against him, his heat penetrating Jared’s thin t-shirt. 

Jared’s eyes rolled up and he moaned when Jensen swiped his tongued up the good side of Jared’s neck, all the way to his ear. ‘Jesuschrist,’ that felt good, Jared thought, as he was clearly distracted now. He struggled to ask, in between losing the rhythm of his breath, “What are you...doing,” then moaned again when Jensen lightly nipped his collar bone. 

Jensen continued to shower his neck and chin with tender exploration, travelling around Jared’s bandage. “Mmm,” he answered, “I think I’m enjoying myself.” Jared continued to gasp in ecstasy as Jensen touched new places. He made it over to Jared’s mouth, licked the lower lip there, eliciting a sexy gasp of surprise from his lover. Jensen avoided the top lip, simply touched it tenderly with his tongue before barely grazing Jared’s tongue that had instinctively come forward. 

“Ohmygod,” Jared cried out softly, as Jensen slowly pushed up Jared’s t-shirt with his hand while continuing the tender assault on his mouth. Jensen whispered into Jared’s lips, “Just relax,” then kissed down Jared’s neck, “I’m giving you some new memories,” as he travelled to the bare chest and spent time there. “Ah,” Jared’s airy cries of pleasure were sexy, as hell. Jensen was enjoying himself, immensely. “Jesuschrist, you have a beautiful body,” he mumbled, licking at both nipples before gently sucking on them. 

Jared’s cries became louder. He was definitely completely distracted. Jensen’s hot breath, his whispered words and his mouth... “Aaa..god,” Jared was lost. His lover showered him with loving attention, licking right across Jared’s injuries, without applying any pressure. Jared’s cries were reaching new octaves. His hands went automatically to Jensen’s head, as the older man lowered himself past Jared’s abdomen to the tented underwear. 

Jensen pulled down the soft garment. He sat up on his haunches long enough to slide the underwear off and toss it aside. Jared was laid out like a gorgeous entree on a platter. His face was flushed, his eyes full of dreamy anticipation and love. His hands were sprawled to the side and as Jensen leaned back over him, Jared’s breathing increased. He raised his head slightly, so he could see down. 

Jensen held his gaze, as he swiped his tongue from Jared’s thick balls up to the tip of his dick. “Aaaah,” Jared cried out and grabbed for Jensen’s head. He was tense, poised, and panting. “Jesuschrist, Jen,” Jared managed to blurt out. Jensen’s eyes were filled with intensity, though he smirked knowingly, with great appreciation for his lover’s responses.

Jensen told him, “You know, you’re gorgeous like this. You should see how fucking perfect you are.” He rubbed Jared’s balls, just because he loved to feel them filling and shifting. This elicited more soft cries from Jared, as the accountant rolled his head back. Jensen licked the sacks, then sucked on them, enjoying the “Oh god’s” and “Ohmygod Jensen,” he got from that. 

He licked up the the hard length again, then circled his tongue around the head of Jared’s beautiful cock. “Aaah,” Jared’s repeated cries were exactly what Jensen had been going for...this was meant to chase away any ugly memories that might be just waiting for Jared to let his guard down. 

Jensen braced himself and glanced up. Jared’s face was a picturesque ensemble of open mouth, squinted up poised anticipation. Jensen absorbed the good fortune, once again, that this brilliant adonis was his. He slowly descended his mouth, gliding the wet hot heat downward to engulf as much of Jared’s considerable size as he could. 

His accountant cried out beautifully loud, moaning with his head back, eyes closed, in luxurious rapture. Jared was ‘lost’...he was ‘his’. Jensen moaned, his own eyes rolling up at the incredible taste of Jared’s dick sliding in and out of his mouth, as he set up a slow rhythm. He gradually increased it, as Jared’s body ignited with responding clenches and tightening of his fingers in Jensen’s short hairs. 

Jared’s responses had Jensen’s dick hard within seconds. He knew he wasn’t gonna make it without blowing his own load. The increased aggression in Jared’s groans were spiking him fast toward his own orgasm. ‘Fuck,’ this kid was too hot to take, Jensen thought. He sucked and licked his tongue around the head, indulging himself and moaning right along with Jared. He would never get enough of this. 

Jared’s dick expanded, the head becoming even more taught, as Jensen heard Jared’s cries escalate to beyond comprehension. He knew Jared was fast approaching orgasm so, he doubled his efforts. With his right hand, he massaged Jared’s balls, and he sucked hard, while increasing his rhythm. Jared screamed, “Aaah...Aaaah god, Jensen... aaahgod...ohmygod...Jensen...ohgod.” 

Jared started pumping his hips, fucking into Jensen’s mouth as he hit the crest. “FUCK, I’M COMING,” He locked up and screamed, “AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH,” jerking hard as Jensen continued his motions. “AAAAAHHHHH,” Jared cried out over and over, his body clenched tight with gripping orgasmic pleasure that practically owned him. 

Jensen rode it with him, feeling his own orgasm grip him. “Mmmmmmmmmm,” his own eyes rolled up with his mouth full of Jared, as incredible pleasure forced it’s way through his body. Jensen’s deep baritone groans vibrated around Jared’s cock, pushing increased sparks of pleasure into Jared’s orgasmic aftershocks. 

Jared’s concentration was completely out the window. He was at the mercy of orgasmic euphoria, only allowed to fall back onto the bedding when it decided to release him. “Ah...ah,” his soft cries of pleasure were intermixed with his struggled to breathe. He lay there panting, drifting in some unidentified plane of existence where he didn’t know anything. 

Jensen breathed through his own aftershocks, before he slowly slid his mouth off Jared’s dick and kissed it. He kissed around Jared’s pelvic area, licking up some of the come that had spilled past his lips when he lost coordination. He admired the gorgeous build of this perfect creature, before his eyes landed on the evidence of the painful kick Jared had endured from his captors. 

Jensen dragged his now sluggish bones to sit up on his haunches and admired his work. His lover was gone to the world, resting with his mouth half open, arms flayed out and eyes clothes. There was a dreamy wondrous look of post orgasmic heaven on Jared’s face and he didn’t look much aware of anything else. Jensen smiled at the sight. He looked down at his own underwear and sighed. He went to the bathroom and cleaned up. He threw the wasted underwear in the washer and went to make absolute sure every door and window was locked again before he headed back to bed. 

Jared was right where he left him, just to the side of the bed. He hadn’t made any attempt to move under the covers. Jensen grinned to himself, and moved into position next to him, pulling all of the plush covering over them both. He smoothed Jared’s hair away from his face and grinned again. The kid was completely out. Jensen reached over and turned off the bed lamp, then nestled himself comfortably for some quality catch up sleep. 

Jensen woke to the bright sun blaring through the cracks of Jared’s curtain. The bedside clock read ten fifteen. “Holy fuck,” he grumbled, thinking once again how being with Jared changed all his former habits. Jensen normally shot up at ungodly hours, even when he ‘was’ tired. He glanced over at his bedmate. Jared’s hair was completely doing it’s own thing and covering half the pillow and his face. He was partially on his stomach now, and facing Jensen. 

The detective sergeant barely touch his skin, as he gently moved the hair aside to see Jared’s face. The accountant was fully ensconced in deep slumber, his face slack and devoid of any worry lines, his mouth partially open. Jared had slept through the night. Now that Jensen knew what worked, he’d definitely try that again. 

He couldn’t help staring at the younger man with a grin on his face. Jared was stunningly beautiful, even with the bruises, little cuts and tiny bit of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. Jensen decided to get up and entertain himself with a couple helpful chores. He stretched and headed for the bathroom. After his morning ritual, he looked through Jared’s underwear drawer and snagged a pair to borrow. They seemed to be doing this quite a bit, so he knew Jared wouldn’t mind. 

Jensen found an old grey t-shirt and some socks. He wore that, and nothing more, then went to feed the cats. They came running. He chuckled to himself when he remembered Jared’s sweet look of loving adoration when he found out Jensen had sent one of his detectives to fill their bowls while he was gone. 

Jensen had never had time to be a pet owner, and he never thought of himself as even ‘liking’ anything cat related...but Jared’s love for these creatures would just have to become ‘his’ now. He was in love, and he loved every piece of Jared that came with him. 

Jensen headed inside to make coffee and espresso. He remembered the morning Jared left and how there wasn’t anything left to cook in the house. He waited for his first cup of blessed caffeine, then searched on line with his Mini iPad for a Door Dash. He ordered two huge breakfasts from a nearby diner, then went to dig out any laundry from his and Jared’s luggage. 

Jensen set the washing machine, then carried his coffee with him outside to retrieve Jared’s morning paper off the porch. He glanced around the neighborhood, out of force of habit. This was a nice unit, in a nice complex. There were hardly ever any calls in here. The fact that such filth had invaded Jared’s safe life here pissed him off. The brilliant adorable numbers expert hadn’t deserved anything he’d been dealt, but thank god he had gotten him back safe. 

He went back inside and sat at the table to enjoy the rest of his strong liquid and read the paper. Within thirty minutes, a knock at the door indicated breakfast had arrived. Jensen tipped the delivery person and shut the door, then carried the stacks of food to the kitchen counter. Just as he was unpacking the hot trays, he felt loving arms slide around his waist from behind. 

Jensen paused with a smile. Jared held him snug and kissed the back of his neck, then rested his face sideways on Jensen’s shoulder. The older man turned and took Jared into his arms to greet him properly. He kissed him tenderly on the lips, then looked into his eyes while smoothing Jared’s hair back. The accounting expert seemed relaxed and at peace. He had put on a t-shirt and underwear, but stood there with nothing else. 

“You okay,” Jensen asked, smirking at the gorgeous beauty in his morning sluggishness. Jared yawned, then kissed him again. “Mmmm,” he moaned and laid his head sideways on Jensen’s shoulder again, as the older man snuggled him closer with his arms around Jared’s waist. Jared seemed to want to stay there for awhile, so they did. He yawned again, then turned up his face to look at Jensen again. “Thank you,” he said. 

Jensen smirked again, “For what?” Jared said, “Just for everything. For being here...with me.” Jared raised an eyebrow and delivered his own smirk, “And for that bedtime story.” Jensen chuckled softly, “You liked that, did you? I liked it too.” Jared snickered, “Oooh yeah,” looking lazy and happy, which turned Jensen’s insides to goo. He kissed him again, then said, “I liked it so much, I had to clean myself up and borrow some of your underwear.” 

Jared paused, looking pleasantly shocked, then intrigued, “Really.” He kissed Jensen, then added, “That sounds hot. I’m sorry I missed it.” Jensen responded, “Well I didn’t miss it...and yes it was hot.” After another kiss, Jensen explained, “And I’m very glad you got a good night’s sleep, Padalecki, but I think you need some sustenance now. Are you hungry?” 

Jared looked toward the bar, at Jensen’s nudge, and his face brightened, “God yes, this looks incredible.” He took a seat at the table, while Jensen placed trays of omelets, bacon, biscuits and potatoes in front of them. Jared tore into the take out plastic ware and immediately dug into his plate. “Oh my god,” he exclaimed, as his eyes rolled up in pleasure. Jensen grinned at the response. He grabbed Jared a cup of coffee, then sat it next to him and took his own chair. 

Half way through the meal, Jared finally sipped his coffee. He moaned at the taste, but winced with an “Ow” from accidentally touching his stitched cut with the hot liquid. Jared put the cup down and said, “You’re spoiling the hell out of me.” Jensen’s eyes were full of sympathetic concern over Jared’s wince, but he grinned around a mouth full of biscuit. 

He swallowed, then responded, “Maybe it’s time you were spoiled after all that shit you’ve been through.” Jared kept eating, as Jensen added, “It’s you and me from here on out, kiddo. No more crap.” Jared glanced at him, nodding, as he chewed on a delicious piece of bacon. He added, “I love you,” in between chews, to which Jensen answered him with a smirk, “I love you back.” 

Through the rest of their day, Jared was a bustle of recovering activity. He talked to his parents, begged Jensen to go for a walk to the park again, then packed up some things for Jensen’s house. He took a nice outfit for Monday, knowing they probably wouldn’t make it back here before then. Jared went two doors down and arranged for a neighbor to feed his cats the next few mornings. He returned and the men took off in Jensen’s car. 

Now that Jared was close to venturing off into society again, Jensen realized he was having some apprehension over it, and brought up the subject when they stopped at a light, “I need to confess something, and hope you’ll understand it.” Jared watched him with concern, as Jensen continued, “The last thing I want to do is make you feel smothered, or like I think you’re incapable, or something, because you’re ‘not’. It’s just...” 

Jensen paused. Jared took his hand and squeezed it, encouraging the man to continue. Jensen sighed, “I’m gonna need a little slack in the protective bodyguard department...just for awhile.” Jared opened his mouth to speak, but paused to think for a second. He wanted to make sure he understood what Jensen was trying to say. 

Jensen added, “You weren’t breathing, Jare,” with such anguish in his eyes, it went straight to Jared’s heart. Jared realized, for the first time, this recovery wasn’t just about ‘his’ psyche and ‘his’ injuries, Jensen had gone through his own trauma at almost losing him. Jared nodded, responding for Jensen’s sake, but too overwhelmed and touched that someone loved him this much at the same time. He understood. 

They drove in silence a few blocks, each processing their own thoughts. Just before Jensen’s street, he pulled into a drive thru and stopped at the menu. Jared wasn’t really hungry for a meal yet, so he looked confused for a second, but then leaned lower to look through Jensen’s window at the display board. “Holy fuck,” he blurted out, suddenly scooting eagerly closer to Jensen’s side. 

Jensen laughed at the reaction. Jared’s eyes darted between numerous pictures of delicious ice cream treats, some topped with caramel filled chocolates and other bits. Jensen said, “Let the spoiling continue, love,” then kissed Jared on his open mouthed expression. Jared did a double take, overtaken by excitement at so many choices, and at Jensen’s attention. The older man asked, “You know what you want?” 

Jared pointed to a picture on the sign and explained, “Hell yeah, I want that thing...that big one with the hot fudge and caramel all over it.” Jensen grinned and put the car into gear again, “Then it shall be so, my genius.” Jared plopped back into his seat, mumbling “I’m not a genius,” as Jensen pulled up to the speaker and ordered. They got their treats and Jensen pulled into a nearby park where they could enjoy them. 

This was perfect, Jared was thinking. Somehow, Jensen knew that being outside in the sun, even though it was cold, would be like therapy. The crisp air was biting their open skin, but they had enough layers to keep the rest of them warm. The ice cream was freezing, but Jared had so many hot toppings, it melted the rest of his monstrosity pretty quick. 

Jensen couldn’t believe how much energy Jared had today. He had some trouble bending over and putting shirts on, reaching for things too high, but for the most part he was a walking talking bundle of activity. They got a fit of the giggles after they downed their ice cream. They were sitting on a park bench, talking about everything until Jensen landed on fishing. 

Jared asked how they would go to the bathroom if they were stuck out on the water all day. “Do you use a soup can, or something?” Somehow, that led to Jensen describing peeing over the side and inviting an embarrassing bee sting, or a citation from Ranger Rick who was probably watching everyone with binoculars. Jared giggled, then asked in mock seriousness, “Do you think there really ‘is’ a ranger named Rick?” 

He leaned closer to Jensen with malicious sparkles in his eyes, “Ranger Rick gives you a ticket for showing your dick.” Jensen grinned, “Or a hungry fish bites it off.” Jared guffawed, then blurted out, “A Dickfish.” His laugh was contagious. He was feeling the chill penetrating his clothes by now, but he was having so much fun. 

Jensen was relaxed and carefree. He threw their trash away in the can next to them, then faced his lover with his elbow resting on the back of the bench. He watched Jared’s flushed face, enjoying the sparkles he saw in his eyes. Jared was watching someone throw a ball for his dog far away. He turned to Jensen and noticed the older man watching him, which sent him into a shy downward smile. 

Jensen waited until Jared looked up before he said, “God you’re so damn beautiful.” The accountant snorted, looking instantly argumentative like Jensen had lost his marbles, then he retorted, “I’m not. You are.” Jensen grinned further, “Oh, no, I think it’s you...definitely you, youngling.” 

Jared looked annoyed as he sighed, “I’m not the one with the deep green eyes that you can get lost in. Mine are like confused pools of mud, and they’re never right on my driver’s license. They’re like pukey gold or...green or...grey or something. And my legs are too skinny.”

Jensen broke out laughing, totally caught off guard. He couldn’t believe he was hearing this, “Your eyes are not any of those things, you dork. They’re stunning and unique...and the colors are deep dark grey, to steel grey, to light misty grey with little diamond sparkles in them...and then there’s soft hazel, but it’s ever changing with beautiful golds and greens. That’s why everyone stares at them...me included...and the rest of you is just damn delicious...you can wrap those muscular long thighs around me any time.” 

Jared looked down and away, partially hiding the faint blush he could feel. Jensen shook his head, “Jesus,” unable to fathom how he got so damn lucky. Jared looked put out when he looked back at him, but Jensen couldn’t stop staring. The kid really had no idea. 

The accountant finally turned serious and asked, “What did you mean by protective bodyguard?” Jensen searched his eyes for a moment. He smoothed Jared’s hair back and answered him, “I’m just worried. New places, new people...running simple errands...the gym...I’m gonna hover for awhile...until I get used to you being okay, anyway. That’s why I appreciate you letting me drive you to work your first few days. It’s the beginning of my twelve steps of letting go.” 

Jared smiled softly, as he thought about this. Instead of being stubbornly angry, he stared at Jensen with loving understanding. After a few seconds, Jared said, “I’m only here because of you, you know. You saved me. Jeff told me what you did.” Jensen looked instantly undecided about that. He hadn’t told Jared about the lengthy rescue breaths he had to administer. He looked down with a gentle “Oh”, realizing his big mouthed partner had spilled the beans. 

“It’s okay,” Jared said, then reached for Jensen’s chin to pull his face up. When Jensen met his eyes, Jared rubbed his cheek with his hand, “It’s okay to tell me how hard that was. I know how it felt when I thought I would never see you again...when I thought they were going to kill you. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you.” 

Jared waited for Jensen to absorb that, then he added, “Thank you for fighting for me...for getting me back. This life we’re getting to start together...it’s better than anything I ever imagined...and I still get to live it because of you. I’m way beyond just in love, here, it’s like I can’t even remember what my life was like before you. I don’t even want to.” 

Jensen put his hand behind Jared’s head and pulled him closer so he could kiss his forehead. God, he loved this man...and God, it had been terrifying but he was still here...and why the hell was he letting Jared comfort ‘him’? Jensen brushed Jared’s hair back and smiled at him, “You’re pretty goddamn important to me, you know that? And yeah, I get the way beyond in love part.” 

They kissed very lightly, mindful of Jared’s lip, and when they pulled apart, Jensen added, “But there’s no getting hurt or getting into danger allowed for you ever again. You’re done testing my limits with that crap, okay?” Jared smiled with sweet understanding. He nodded with his answer, “Okay.” 

After another kiss, the lovers went to Jensen’s truck and made their way to his house. They finished the day with a walk to the boat, looking through Jensen’s fishing supplies and making a list of what they would need for a day out on the water. The hot tub sounded blessedly appealing to Jared’s sore body, so Jensen uncovered it and brought towels outside after he ordered them a pizza. 

It was past eight. Jared was in heaven. He closed his eyes and rested his head back on the edge of the tub. After thirty minutes, Jensen left his lover to put on a robe and answer the door for the pizza. When he returned, he considered leaving the soaking accountant for awhile longer. Jared was so relaxed. 

A very light kiss on his cheek roused Jared from his barely conscious state to answer with, “Hmm?” He peeked one eye open and turned his head slightly toward Jensen, who appeared in his vision upside down and smiling. “How are you feeling,” Jensen asked. Jared moaned with a sideways grin of absolute wondrous peace. His limbs were like jelly. He managed to mumble out, “Amazng.” Jensen snickered softly, then kissed him on the cheek again. He whispered into Jared’s ear, “Pizza’s here, love.” 

Jared slowly stirred enough to get his body moving toward the side of the tub. He never would have made it out without Jensen’s support. Jared was toast, so Jensen dried him off while he stood there yawning. He put the second robe around him and walked Jared into the living room, where he sat him on the couch with a Sprite. 

“Drink this,” he ordered, wanting to make sure Jared replaced all the fluids he just lost. The younger man complied, so Jensen went back to cover the jacuzzi and secure everything for the night. He locked the back slider and closed the blinds, then came to sit next to his melted accounting expert who had finished about half of his drink. 

Jensen clicked the fireplace on. He put a plate together, since Jared seemed too drunk on jacuzzi heat to do it. He handed the plate to his lover, as he took the Sprite from his hand and put it down. Jared ate with his sluggish limbs, moaning and groaning with every tasty bite. He hadn’t even realized he was so hungry. Jensen consumed his own pizza while watching and listening to his expressive genius. His cell phone rang, and it was Morgan checking on Jared. 

Jensen filled him in, then told him to expect the kid at their team competition. JD laughed, “I knew it. That’s great. I’ll pass it on, the guys’ll be stoked.” Jensen explained he would be taking Jared to work and picking him up for the first few days, just to make sure the job was solid, but other than that, he’d be back to pound the streets with Morgan. 

The older man barked, “The streets? Shit, Ackles, we’ve got so much paperwork, we’ll be sittin’ on butt cushions. Be sure you bring one for your ass.” Jensen sighed as he hung up. Paperwork wasn’t something to look forward to. The rest of the evening was spent watching movies while they laid in each other’s arms on Jensen’s huge couch. Jensen played the original Police Academy movies, just to hear Jared’s giggle. 

The accountant was still loopy, probably from the hot tub effects and the huge ibuprofen Jensen had given him. He giggled and snorted from his position on Jensen’s chest. Jensen was thoroughly entertained because he’d never heard Jared make a cute little snort like that before. When the third movie started, Jensen heard the unmistakable sound of soft snoring. It was very light, like Jared had a bit of sinus reaction to the steam earlier. 

Jensen couldn’t see any reason to disturb the sleeping beauty on his chest, so he simply turned the television down a little and proceeded to indulge himself with Jared in his arms. There were no nightmares again that night, nor the night after it. By Monday morning, Jared was refreshed and looking much closer to being back to normal.

“Would you stop?” Jensen’s nagging voice came from the side, as Jared adjusted his top button for the fourth time in the mirror. He dropped his shaking hands with a sigh. “Hey,” Jensen took him by the shoulders and turned him until they were facing, “they’re gonna love you.” Jared’s anxiety showed in his eyes, “I should be wearing a tie.” 

Jensen argued, “They told you not to.” Jared asked with loads of anxiety, “What if they just said that? What if they meant for me to wear one?” Jensen rubbed the accountant’s arms up and down, “They didn’t. They won’t be able to resist you, just like anybody else.” 

Jared was way over stressed about his first day. Jensen knew it wasn’t all because of performance anxiety, some of this was owed to Jared’s horrible experience with his last job. “Baby,” Jensen pushed Jared’s chin up with his fingers, “these aren’t the same people. These guys are different, and you’re gonna be a fine.” 

Jared knew Jensen was probably right, so why couldn’t he just relax, dammit? He hated feeling like this. “Take a deep breath,” Jensen told him. Jared inhaled and held it. Jensen said, “Blow it out. Good, now again,” he breathed with him a few times until Jared calmed down. Jensen rubbed his back, then kissed him on the cheek. He backed up and looked Jared over. When Jared saw Jensen’s twisted up lip, he panicked, “What?” 

Jensen glanced over his outfit again and shook his head. Jared stepped closer, “Jensen, tell me, do I look too casual?” Jensen smoothed Jared’s hair back and stared lovingly into the panicked beautiful eyes. He told him, “Relax, you can’t look bad, even if you tried your hardest. My look was because those Khaki’s under that collared shirt grip you in all the right places and I’m not sure if I should let you out in public like that.” 

Jared paused, his eyes darted for a second. It took a minute for his brain to process what Jensen just said. “Oh,” he said, relaxing back down a bit. Jensen rubbed his back and asked, “You hungry?” Jared looked wide eyed at him and shook his head, “No way, I can’t eat right now.” Jensen wasn’t crazy about it, but he understood and he certainly didn’t want poor Jared puking on his way to work. “How about a protein shake, can you get a few sips down?” 

Jensen walked the younger man toward the kitchen. Their things had been piled by the door the night before. Jared agreed to try some of the shake, so Jensen went to work on it. The detective sergeant had showered and gotten himself ready first, then helped Jared to cover the wound on his neck before he got in the shower. 

During the car ride to his new office, Jared kept fidgeting. At one point, he started biting his nails, and Jensen gently pushed his hands back down. He smiled when Jared glanced at him. Jared was truly worried about this and he had no reason to be. Jensen couldn’t fathom how the younger man had gone this many years without realizing his incredible worth. 

They arrived at the back door to the office building, exactly where the HR person had told Jared to enter. Jared sat in the car, looking at the door for a minute, then back out the front window of Jensen’s county car. After a minute, Jensen nudged him, “Hey.” Jared looked over and Jensen smiled at the adorable nervous genius who looked ten years younger than he really was. 

Jared swallowed, nervous beyond belief. Jensen unbuckled his belt and scooted closer to him, touching him on the cheek, “You’re brilliant and talented and you know a hell of a lot more than they do about finances. That’s why they’ve hired you. They know what they’ve got and they’re gonna treat you right.” 

Jared let out the panicked breath he’d been holding, and asked, “But what if they’re criminals? What if I’m doing it again...what if?” “Ssshhhh,” Jensen rushed to intercept Jared’s panic, “they’re not like the others you worked for...and that was not your mistake. This is going to be way different, okay? Its gonna be like it should have been the last time. This one is real.” 

Jared tried to believe it. He tried to absorb what Jensen was saying, but he couldn’t help question it, “But how do you know that?” Jensen sighed, looking slightly guilty for knowing something Jared didn’t yet. Jared looked intensely at him, “What? Jensen, what do you know?” Jensen admitted, “Well, I sort of did a background on them.” After a pause, he added, “A quite extensive background.” 

When Jared paused, Jensen furthered, “They’re clean...squeaky. Some people in the building have a few misdemeanors, but they’ve taken care of them.” Jared looked at him in startled disbelief, “You looked up everybody in the building?” Jensen sighed again. He finally shrugged with a smirk, “So sue me...the better half to my soul is going in there.” 

Jared was stunned for another moment. He processed all of this, then visibly started to relax. He looked at Jensen with a little more confidence than he had a few moments ago. “I love you,” he announced. Jensen smiled softly, “I love you too.” They kissed, then Jared got out of the car and turned to lean over for one last comment, “Be careful.” Jensen grinned, “Yes, dear.” 

By the time Jensen finished his stack of reports, he’d received one responding text from Jared during lunch, and one around four o’clock. Jensen couldn’t read into the text, so he wasn’t sure how it was going yet. JD had been drowning in his own paperwork all day so they hadn’t seen each other, other than for a quick burrito at the drive up wagon. The two sergeants had survived a lengthy debrief with some of their team and the Captain over their arrest of Barron. It had been a long ass catch up day. 

Jared told him he would be off at five, so Jensen cut out at quarter til. Morgan smiled and waved at his friend, knowing exactly where Jensen was going. He picked Jared up right where he left him that morning. Jensen felt ridiculously giddy and all fluttery inside as he watched the hottest khaki wearing scholar in the city walk toward his car at ten after five. Jared was so fucking adorable with his hair waving in the breeze. Jensen shook his head with a fond smile as the younger man got in the passenger seat. 

Jared kissed his lover first, then sat back and buckled his belt. Jensen smirked, glancing at him. He detected a good first day from Jared’s demeanor. As they pulled away, Jared asked, “So, were you careful, like you promised?” Jensen responded, “Yep...very careful not to fall off my chair or get any paper cuts with all the fucked up reports I had to approve today.” 

After a pause, Jensen glanced at him in question, “And? How did it your day go?” Jared grinned with a nod, “It was good.” He looked at Jensen with a shrug, “I guess I was worried about nothing.” Jensen glanced at him, “Hey, it’s not nothing. You’ve been through hell. It’s normal to be skittish. So...they’re nice?” 

Jared nodded, looking at the road, “Yeah, they are...I met the other one today and all three of them are very polite and supportive. They asked me for equipment choices so they can order everything, then they gave me a pretty office and walked me around. I did some preliminary numbers for them, but nothing big yet. There’s a big merger coming and they want me up to speed so I can handle it for them.” Jensen snorted mockingly, “Well, that’ll take you two minutes.” He smirked at Jared, who looked down in shyness. 

They went to Jared’s place after going by a supermarket to furnish his kitchen with a few items. Jensen cooked fajitas, while Jared sipped beer next to him and chopped a few vegetables. They spent the evening stealing bites from the pan, licking each other’s utensils and basically engaging in erotic foreplay over several bites of food. Both lovers had endured a really good day and the ugly events from before seemed to be dissipating. 

Jensen stood to take the plates to the sink, but Jared intercepted him at the bar. “Leave it,” the deep sex laden tone of Jared’s command had Jensen dropping the plates where he was on the counter. His dick got hard before he even had to think about it. Jared’s muscular heat pinned him against the bar. His hands rubbed up and down Jensen’s muscular chest through his t-shirt. Jared’s smouldering eyes were dark and full of arousal. 

Jensen groaned in desperate pleasure, as Jared’s mouth attacked his, pushing his tongue into Jensen’s hot cavern with irresistible advances. Jensen grabbed Jared around the waist, and pulled him tighter against him. Rock hard cocks touched brazenly through their pants, causing immediate groans of approval as both men started gyrating against each other. 

They kissed, open mouthed, tongues dancing between them, as each man tried to keep pressure off Jared’s upper lip. Jared used his tongue, around Jensen’s ears, then down his neck, as he slipped the flannel shirt off Jensen’s shoulders. 

Jensen quickly helped him, getting his arms out of the sleeves as fast as possible and throwing the shirt aside. Jared kissed him further, mouths colliding hot and wet, again avoiding too much pressure on that hurt lip. The stitch was dissolving and the cut was healing, but it wasn’t ready for too much. There was no sound in the kitchen except for pants and moans, wet sounds of tongues dancing together. 

Jensen’s hands roamed everywhere, down to Jared’s perfect ass where he squeezed him through the khaki’s, then rubbed all around his muscular back. Jared popped opened Jensen’s top button on his jeans and pushed the zipper down. He slipped his hand inside them, eliciting a moan of pleasure from the older man when he rubbed his hand up and down the hard length through Jensen’s underwear. 

Jensen’s head fell back, his hand squeezed Jared’s arm. Oh God, it felt so good. It had been a few days, and his body damn well knew it. Jared pushed Jensen’s t-shirt up, then knelt down so he could savor the older man’s gorgeous torso. He felt restricted because of his lip problem, but that didn’t stop him. Jared licked the golden skin and dragged his lower lip and teeth along to provide as close to kissing and suction as he could. 

Jensen was smooth and delicious. Jared felt the powerful muscles ripple underneath the skin as he tasted him. Jensen’s grunts and gusty cries were encouraging. He grabbed the back of Jared’s head in desperation when Jared licked and sucked at his nipples. “Jared,” Jensen blurted out, in between gusts of air. Jared straightened and returned to Jensen’s mouth, nibbling on the man’s lower lip until Jensen growled an aggressively deep sound Jared hadn’t heard before. 

“Mmmm,” Jared’s moan of approval was cut off as Jensen turned them quickly to pin Jared against the counter. They kept open mouths against each other, as Jensen’s hands made quick work of Jared’s pants hook and zipper. He slipped his hands right beneath the underwear, feeling the smooth skin of Jared’s perfect ass. Jensen kneaded and squeezed it, loving the moans and soft cries of Jared’s pleasure. 

He gripped the accountant’s cock and pumped him a few times, causing Jared to cry out with his head thrown back. Jensen knew he could come like this. Jared’s reactions did this to him every fucking time. Jensen slid both hands under the younger man’s t-shirt and pushed it up. They pushed together tightly and cried out at the hot skin against skin, dicks throbbing between them. 

Jensen sucked Jared’s neck, causing him to grab his ass and gasp with pleasure. Jensen nipped at his collarbone, then pulled Jared even tighter against him. They met eyes, panting with heat and so turned on they could barely think. Their two engorged cocks were poised against each other, just waiting for the next move. 

“Bedroom,”Jensen managed to say, in between gasps for air. Jared moved with him, kissing, licking, and rubbing his hands all over Jensen’s chest as he backed himself down the hall. Jensen touched him everywhere at once, kissing and licking, groaning until they fell on the bed. 

Jensen crawled over Jared’s body, following him, as the younger man scooted backward. When Jared reached the pillows, they kissed more passionately before they rushed to get t-shirts off and then pants and underwear. Within seconds, they were pushing against each other, crying out as sensitive cocks rubbed against the naked friction. Jared flipped them over, turning Jensen on even more with his renewed strength. 

Jared crawled up Jensen’s body to sit directly on his groin. He held Jensen’s stare while taking Jensen’s dick into his hands, alongside his own. Jensen’s hands gripped his lover’s thighs hard, as Jared moved his hands and the exquisite sparks of pleasure had him gasping uncontrollably. “God Jared,” he cried out, then moaned as Jared further moved his hands up and down both their dicks. 

Jared leaned forward with sexy as fuck dilated determined eyes, “I want you to get me ready.” Jensen’s eyes darkened. Jared licked and bit Jensen’s swollen lower lip, “With your fingers...get me ready and then I wanna ride your dick ‘til we come.” Jensen’s breathing went crazy. He wasn’t sure he could make it. “Jesusfuckingchrist,” he bellowed, as Jared leaned over to grab the lube from the nightstand. 

Jensen saw the wince. He knew it hurt. He quickly leaned himself sideways and intercepted Jared’s reach to get the lube from the drawer, saving Jared from reaching any further. Within seconds, Jared had generously squirt the product on Jensen’s fingers and positioned himself perfectly. 

The second Jensen slipped the first finger into Jared’s hot tight channel, he had to grab the base of his dick. Knowing he was putting his dick in there almost had him coming on the spot. Jared’s moans and cries of ecstasy certainly weren’t helping. The kid started fucking himself on Jensen’s finger and it was only the first one. 

Jared’s long gorgeous body was flexing and gyrating, his eyes closed in luxurious rapture at the feeling of Jensen’s finger being inside of him. Jensen added a second finger, and the cries got even louder. Jensen squeezed his dick again. Jesuschrist, he was close. Blowing his load inside that hot gorgeous body was the pinpoint of his determination right now and he was ‘not’ gonna let himself ruin this. 

Jensen added a third finger and Jared was tight as hell. Feeling this, watching Jared on top of him like this...Jensen decided he wanted to do this a LOT. Jared was rocking his hips forward and back, moving up and down, crying out with a thin layer of sheen all over him, and throwing his head back, biting his lower lip in between. 

Fuck, and that glorious hair was flopping all over the place. This was the stuff only pornographic dreams were made of. Jared was real...totally fucking real and Jensen didn’t have to share him. He pumped his fingers harder and faster, giving Jared increased pleasure by angling his fingers to hit that prostate. Jared cried out loudly and fucked himself faster. Gushing sparks of pleasure were now spiralling him toward orgasm. 

Jensen was lost in it. Jared started to scream, “Aaah...aahgod,” but he tried to slow down. “Stop,” he screamed, as he grabbed Jensen’s wrist underneath him and halted his movements. Jared panted heavily to try and catch his breath, his desperate sounding plea adding, “Jensen, stop...you have to stop, I’m gonna come. I wanna come on your dick...please.” 

Jensen realized his lover had more strength than he did. He had completely lost focus and was hellbent in the moment to push Jared over the edge. Jensen pulled his fingers out, avoiding anymore grazes to that prostate gland. He quickly helped Jared adjust his hips and growled, “Fucking do it, Jare, ride me,” as he squeezed one hand on Jared’s right hip, the other on his upper left thigh. The left hip was badly bruised and Jensen remembered not to touch that one. 

The younger man began to lower himself, descending his tight opening over Jensen’s engorged mushroom tip. Unimaginable tight wet heat squeezed his sensitive nerve endings, as Jared’s hot channel took Jensen inside of him. Jensen cried out with a gasp, as the tip popped completely inside. Jared cried out with him, then he moved downward further. 

Jensen’s grip tightened. The tightness was almost unbearable. He gasped and cried out more from the overwhelming need to fuck himself into that tight heat and come. Jared paused about three quarters of the way down, his gasps and cries intermixed with the need for oxygen as his body stretched and adjusted to Jensen’s size. 

“Baby,” Jensen struggled to warn him, “baby, if you move, I’m gonna come. You’re so tight. Ohmyfucking god, you’re so fucking tight...fuck, it’s too good.” Jensen had no more coherent thought, other than to warn his lover and make him understand how fucking close he was. 

Jared understood, but he was so close to the edge, himself, that he couldn’t formulate words. This was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever done and it was gonna be over quick. He took only a few more seconds for his body to accommodate Jensen’s sizable endowment, then slid the rest of the way down. 

“Aah,” both men cried out when Jared bottomed out. They paused for only a second, then Jared moved up and back down, causing a loud groan of pleasure from both of them. Jared moved again, slowly trying out the up and down rhythm, his cries turning high pitched as Jensen’s wide mushroom tip started to graze his prostate with each movement. 

The need for more caused Jared’s body to speed up on it’s own. The sparks from his prostate were coming close together and Jared was spiralling upward again fast. His cries came louder and closer together, the volume let Jensen know he was climbing fast to orgasm. Jensen sat up quickly and spread his legs more. He wrapped and arm around Jared’s waist and used his other hand to start pumping Jared’s dick between them. 

He pushed his pelvis up, meeting Jared’s thrusts and both their cries of pleasure turned into screams. Jared sped up, as Jensen fucked upward into the hot wet channel. Oh god, this was too good. Jared’s channel was tightening, his impending orgasm well on it’s way as his screams became louder. “FUCK, JENSEN YES,” he cried. Jensen’s guttural shout was the only warning, “YES JARED COME WITH ME.” 

Jensen felt Jared clamp down as he screamed with his head thrown back. Jensen pushed up hard into the tight channel once more and tightened with a deep guttural cry, “UUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH.” Jensen gasped for air and repeated it, “UUUUUUUUHHHHHH,” as the powerful orgasm forced it’s way through his body. Wave after wave of hot liquid pulsed into Jared’s body as Jensen spasmed from the shocks of gripping pleasure, and felt Jared doing the same. 

They gasped for air, in between baring down to each powerful wave. Jared’s body shuttered in Jensen’s arms. The feeling was unimaginable to be connected like this...to share this moment of vulnerability together. There was no beginning and no end. 

The euphoric waves of pleasure gentled to floating afterglow, as both men’s orgasms released them to crash on the bed. Jared fell heavy on top of Jensen’s thick frame, both men breathing heavily and desperate for air. Jensen cried out little sporadic sounds of wonder, his eyes still closed, “Jesuschrist,” he mumbled. He was floating in between post orgasmic bliss and oxygen depravation. He felt the heavy presence of Jared’s long gorgeous body on top of him, but he couldn’t do anything about it right now. 

Jared had come harder than he ever remembered. It felt like every nerve ending had exploded through his brain. He lay there panting, feeling the light sweat between he and Jensen. He was going to be sore, but that was totally fucking worth it, and goddamn it was good to be alive. He realized he was laying on top of Jensen, but how he could fucking move, Jared had no idea. 

They stayed there with eyes closed, enjoying the leftover heat between them and the softening extension of Jensen still inside Jared’s body. Within a few minutes, Jared sluggishly blinked open his eyes, feeling a loving hand rubbing his sweaty back and Jensen calling him. His cop had a hoarse crack to his voice, which made Jared grin to himself, knowing how hard Jensen had come. 

He struggled to move, but only managed to moan and turn his head on Jensen’s chest to look up. Jared was clearly unable to formulate words just yet. He thought Jensen smiled, but he couldn’t be sure through the haze. Jensen had coaxed Jared back to coherency enough to at least get him to turn his head. His softening cock was still resting in it’s happy place and he had no worries about moving yet, but he was concerned about Jared’s physical condition. 

Jensen played with his hair, studying the heavily blinking eyes and half opened slack mouth. He asked, “Are you alright?” Jared moaned, like he started to answer and couldn’t, then he tried again, “Mm-hmm.” A slow nod against Jensen’s chest accompanied the response, and Jensen had to smile. He still felt concerned, so he gently pulled himself out of the juicy hot channel, then carefully turned them over without jostling Jared too much. 

Jensen was surprised he actually had any strength. His body was still thrumming and rubbery from that orgasm. He scooted on top of the younger man, resting on his elbows to brush his hair back and look more closely at him. “Hey,” Jensen called softly to him, “are you hurting anywhere?” Jared moaned, feeling sluggish and heavy, as he shook his head. He managed to mumble out, “Nooo,” but Jensen wasn’t sure it was convincing. 

He kissed him softly, then noticed the swollen lips and slightly reddened area around Jared’s stitch. “You have to be hurting, sweetheart, what about your stomach?” Jared moaned first, before he mumbled, “Mmyeeah, s’sore, but s’not bad. God that was amzn.” Jensen smiled softly, his love showing in his soft green eyes, “Yes, it was damn amazing. I’ve never felt anything like that and YOU are the hottest fucking thing on the planet, but I know you’re gonna be hurting in the morning. Let me get you an ibuprofen, okay?” 

Jared sluggishly seemed to think it over, then nodded and yawned hugely, as Jensen got up to go retrieve his pill. He returned with a cup of water and Jared’s medicine, but set it on the nightstand. “Hey,” Jensen leaned over the half sleeping man. When Jared turned toward him, Jensen said, “You need to sit up, okay?” Jared took a few seconds to register what the hell Jensen meant, but then he glanced at the nightstand and started to try and push himself up. 

Jensen grabbed at his arms and pulled him, since Jared wasn’t really getting anywhere without help. He downed the pill and the entire cup of water, then sat up a few minutes. Jared actually started to feel more alive now, but the new position certainly brought attention to the fact that he was definitely going to be sore as fuck. 

Jensen had disappeared into the bathroom, so Jared rubbed his eyes and laid back down happily with his eyes closed. He soon felt a hot warm soothing towel on his abdomen, then another one wiping off the sticky residue from his orgasm. He moaned in gratitude as the hot rag pushed in between his butt cheeks, holding there for the heat to penetrate his sore hole. 

Jared moaned again, adding a “Ohgod, thank you.” The blessed soothing rag stayed there until it cooled and then was pulled away. The hot towel that had been laying on his midriff all this time was removed. Jared had to admit, his bruised gut and his raw ass felt amazingly better now. The ibuprofen was probably kicking in, too. 

When Jensen returned to the bed, he set the alarm and pulled covers up over both of them. Jared was manhandled back onto Jensen’s chest, then happily bent one knee to rest it between Jensen’s legs and held onto him like his very own body pillow. Jared felt his mind falling backward again, returning to the ‘no man’s place’ it had been before, but the speech center of his brain couldn’t help his last comment, “Th’t w’s fuckn’ hot, y’ur mine Jn’sn, ok?” 

Jensen snickered to Jared’s garbled mumble, then kissed the shaggy head. His adorable accountant was out for the count within two seconds. Jensen rubbed his fingers through Jared’s hair for a minute and then slept like the dead ‘til next morning. Getting up wasn’t easy. He showered first again, then went to load the coffee maker. 

Jensen returned, noticing the alarm had been blaring for awhile. He went to the other side of the bed and chuckled to himself as he shook the half covered greek god in the bed and called his name. Jared was sprawled out, limbs laying loosely in all different directions. He was on his stomach, head buried under a corner of the blankets with hair laying wild about him. 

“Jare,” Jensen kept on. He had to raise his voice several times and shake the man hard in order to get any response. Once Jared raised up and forcibly blinked his eyes open, Jensen leaned down so he could turn his head sideways and see him close up. “Hey, Sunshine, you with me?” Jensen grinned while watching Jared’s brain try desperately to respond, as Jared glanced around to see daylight poking out of his curtains. 

Jensen watched the adorable display of his bed headed genius as he realized the time on the clock, then blurted out the expletive “Fuck.” He sluggishly forced his sore body out of the covers and to the side of the bed. He sat there, focused on the ground for a minute, rubbing his face and yawning. “Fuck,” Jared repeated, much to the entertainment of the detective sergeant behind him. 

Jared finally hoisted himself up and walked unsteadily toward the bathroom, grabbing his left butt cheek on the way with a wince and sucking in air between his teeth. Jensen winced on his behalf. He quickly raced through changing bed sheets for Jared, while the younger man took care of his hygiene. Jared was allowed to get the wound on his neck wet, as of today, as long as he kept the water from beading down on it.

The accounting expert dug into a breakfast burrito when he saw it waiting on his kitchen counter. He moaned appreciatively, rolling his eyes up at the blend of egg and cheese and bacon. Jensen was such a good cook, Jared couldn’t believe his luck. He scarfed half of it down before drinking the espresso laden coffee Jensen had made for him. ‘Finally,’ Jared thought to himself as he sighed with eyes closed, ‘finally, I feel alive.’

Jared leaned closer and kissed his lover, then kissed him twice more because he just felt like it. He finally made full eye contact and sighed, happily feeling food in his stomach and caffeine in his veins. Jared said, “Thank you.” Jensen slid his arms around Jared’s trim waist and looked into his lovely smokey grey beauties. The little diamond sparkles were there this morning. He asked with a smirk, “For what?”

Jared spoke, slightly annoyed with himself, “For helping me keep my new job. I wasn’t getting up...and I certainly wasn’t showering and having breakfast. You made me get up...so thank you.” Jensen said, “Oh,” still smirking, while enjoying Jared’s cute admission. He kissed the younger man, then studied him for a few seconds, “You’re awful cute, you know.” Jared looked immediately put out, “I am not.” 

Jensen smiled, “And it’s even cuter when you get mad when I say that.” Jensen continued, as his lover sighed and looked down in annoyance, “You wore yourself out last night. I was worried.” When Jared looked up, Jensen corrected, “After coming so hard my brain exploded first...then, I was worried.” Jared kissed him, then pulled away to drink his coffee, “Believe me, I’m sore as fuck...but only in some very perfectly okay areas.” 

Jared added, with a knowing grin, “You have an impressive package, and it definitely leaves it’s imprint.” Jared started to turn to refill his cup, as Jensen was left to laugh unexpectedly at Jared’s witty comment. Jensen let him get a few sips in, then moved in close again to take him in his arms. He indulged himself with a taste of Jared’s swollen coffee laden lips. 

His tongue coaxed Jared’s mouth to open and pushed inside to play with Jared’s for awhile. When Jensen pulled away, both lovers were half hard and backing away to deal with their increased breathing and adjustments. Jensen commented, “I know I should know better right before work, but I’m having a real hard time not bending you over that sink right now and fucking those screams out of you I love to hear.” 

Jared’s eyes widened, “Jesuschrist, Jen,” as Jensen smirked and moved out of the kitchen, putting space between them. After a few moments of separation, Jensen finished his coffee and announced, “I didn’t feed your critters yet.” Jared nodded in silence, then headed for the back slider with Jensen watching his beautiful backside. 

Jared bent over to take care of the food bowls, as Jensen indulged the view from inside. Jared had chosen a pair of dark grey slacks this morning. They fit him in all the right places. Jensen wondered how many others would notice that, or had already noticed Jared in his new office. 

The next few days went by smoothly, as Jared became settled with his new position. Jensen loved hearing about his new experiences when he came home each day. It was like watching Jared relive something he should have had all along. They had already involved Jared in a huge account, obviously trusting him right away. There was travel coming, but it was minimal and Jared was always allowed to bring a significant other.

After a few nights at Jared’s, they moved to Jensen’s place. Each man had exchanged spare keys to the other’s home during the week, so it didn’t matter if they arrived at different times. Friday was supposed to be a great day. It was the end of the week and Jared had gotten off early, so he decided to open a cook book and make dinner. Jensen always cooked, so Jared thought ‘what the hell’.

Jensen came home after six, exhausted and smelling like strong phosphorus chemicals and gun powder. He had finished a two day drug house operation with a shoot out in a meth lab. He had a little burn mark on his cheek bone from a hot bullet casing that had flown cockeyed from an officer’s gun next to him. 

Jensen threw his whole outfit, including socks, into the washer with baking soda and detergent. He said it was the only thing that worked, though it would take a few days to get the chemical smell out of his nose. He headed for the shower to wash his hair a few times, while Jared finished in the kitchen. 

Jared noticed right away Jensen was closed off. He usually came home repeating something funny that happened between his officers, or telling him about the cases he worked on, but tonight was different. Jensen’s job wasn’t normal, by any means and Jared was smart enough to know there would be days like this. 

Jared managed to make cod cakes, spicy rice and a mixed salad. He was actually pretty proud it. He put it on the table with two cold beers for Jensen and one for him. He’d been sipping one, already, while cooking. Jensen came to the table in his underwear, a t-shirt and socks, exclaiming how good everything smelled. Jared smiled at Jensen’s wardrobe choice. He’d been cooking in a similar outfit and it was something they both liked to lounge around in at home.

Jared sat quietly while Jensen sighed and rubbed his face before he took a few gulps of beer. After a full minute, Jensen rested his elbows on the table and looked closer at what was on his plate. He looked at Jared’s, then at the two beers and over at the ensemble of pans and utensils in his kitchen. Jensen finally looked at Jared with amazed interest, “Did you make all this?” 

Jared smiled and shrugged, “With a book to help me, yes.” Jensen finally smiled...for the first time since he’d walked in, he genuinely smiled, his gorgeous green eyes crinkling at the corners. Jared enjoyed it, for the few seconds Jensen displayed it. Jensen looked down and dug in. After a few bites, he complimented, “It’s delicious,” then ate the rest of his meal in silence. 

Jared was glad Jensen asked for seconds. At least his detective hadn’t come home to a crap meal after an obviously shit day. When they’d finished eating, Jared started to clean off the table, but Jensen cut him off and took over. No kiss, or anything, just a nudge to get Jared to leave the kitchen and let him take care of it. 

Jared went to the couch and watched Jensen for a few minutes. His insides deflated. This was new and he didn’t know what to do about it. Jared decided to open his laptop and distract himself with some leftover work. Maybe if he gave Jensen time to unwind, the older man would open up. 

After watching some television for awhile, Jensen sighed and clicked off the remote. He tossed it on the coffee table, irritated, and glanced at Jared. His lover seemed engrossed in some spreadsheets and completely distracted, but Jensen sensed he was closing himself off. Jensen thought about the last two hours and it didn’t take long to realize this was completely his fault. 

“I’m sorry,” Jensen announced. Jared looked up, obviously caught off guard and completely taken aback. He asked, “What?” Jensen scooted closer to Jared on the couch and touched his cheek, “I’m sorry. This isn’t us, and it’s my fault.” Jared was floored for a second, but he managed to push a button and close his laptop without looking away from the eyes he loved. 

He tossed the machine aside and turned to face Jensen more. Jensen took a moment to study the beautiful features of his better half. He could tell Jared was waiting, not pushing, and it just increased the level of guilt he already felt. Jensen began, “I’m not used to this. I’m used to coming home after a shit day and drinking beer, grabbing a shower and drinking more beer...then if it’s a really bad day, starting on the Jim Beam. Sometimes I hit the punching bag in the garage, then I drink until I can fall asleep.” 

Jared’s eyes were wide open, his heart reaching through them to provide Jensen with the safest haven possible. He loved this man so much, and wanted to learn everything he could in order to be there in every way Jensen needed. Jensen sighed, looking at the open innocent beauty that was so focused on him. Why he was gifted with this magnificent creature, he still did not know. 

He cleared his throat and continued, “Anyway, coming home to you...someone so perfect...well, it’s just a new concept. I need to work on my behavior. JD warned me about this, but I thought I could handle it.” Jared looked slightly disapproving of that remark. He didn’t like the idea of Jensen ‘faking’ anything, or keeping the real Jensen hidden from him, even if he was in a sour mood. Jared never wanted anything but realness. 

After a few seconds hesitation, Jared cleared his throat and asked softly, “Will you tell me about your day? Tell me what happened?” Jensen looked reluctant, but after thinking it over for a few seconds, he made his decision. If he was going to do this, he needed to jump in. Jared listened with his eyes glued, while Jensen started from the beginning and told him everything. 

They’d been working on sweeps all week. By noon, they’d briefed and set out to clean up a large well known cook house, manufacturing meth for several dealers. During the raid, Jensen’s lead detective was grazed in the arm during a massive shoot out. Jensen returned fire, and took the attention off his detective so he could crawl back to cover. 

When things were over, Jensen learned he’d shot a nineteen year old mother of twin toddlers. The babies were addicted to meth, like their mom. Jensen’s voice broke, as he went on to admit the horrible fear that he’d almost killed a young mother because she wouldn’t stop shooting at them. She didn’t die, but it didn’t change the fact that she could have...and it was senseless. 

Jensen looked into Jared’s compassionate gaze, “They’re brought up like that. They don’t know any other life. All they know is cops are the enemy and the family business needs to be protected at all costs. She’ll go to jail...and her kids will go into the foster system...but you know what? She’ll get clean in custody, then she might get out and try and get her kids back. They’ll get clean too because the right medical and some nice foster family will take care of them. Then, she gets out and gets them back. If she goes back to what she knows...well, it starts all over again...and the kids grow up to be just like her. When I talk about making a difference, this is the part that doesn’t fit. Some things are a toxic circle of shit that never ends, no matter how much we work at it.” 

Jensen leaned back against the couch and sighed heavily. It felt amazing and unsettling, at the same time, to let that go. He’d been in automatic closed off mode, protecting Jared from hearing any poison, but doing that had put a wall between them. Jared lightly smoothed his hand over Jensen’s hair in silence. After watching him a few seconds, he rolled himself over to straddle Jensen’s lap and sat facing him. 

Jared rested his elbows on either side of Jensen’s face as he looked into his eyes and asked, “Is Manny gonna be okay?” Jared had learned most of Jensen’s team, by now. Manny was Jensen’s right hand and he’d been one of the officers on the plane who came to rescue Jared. He felt Jensen’s hands immediately slide around his waist before he tilted his head up and kissed him. Jensen pulled back and smiled softly at his love, “Yes. He left ER already...he’s fine.” 

Jared smoothed Jensen’s hair back, much like Jensen always did to him. He rubbed his head for a moment, then kissed him softly. “I love you,” Jared said, “Thank you for letting me in and sharing all of that with me. I’m here for you now, in every way you ever need me to be. Even when it’s ugly, I want everything, and to be everything for you.” 

Jared kissed him again with tenderness and they pulled each other into a tight embrace. Jensen shoved his face into his lover’s neck and breathed in his morning shampoo, and the faint traces of the oils he’d used to cook. Jared did the same, his face going immediately into Jensen’s neck to rest there against the warm skin.

Jared started kissing his lover lightly on his neck. At Jensen’s response, he kissed him more aggressively, moving down to his collarbone and back up to his ear. He spent time licking and sucking behind it, then moved down to underneath Jensen’s chin. He took long swipes of his tongue from Jensen’s neck up to his ear. Jensen gasped and gripped the back of Jared’s shirt. 

Jared kissed his way back to Jensen’s mouth, licking the lower lip and biting it with blatant invitation in his eyes. Jensen suddenly grabbed the back of Jared’s head and pulled his mouth hard into a heated kiss. He pushed his tongue in, demanding entrance, as Jared’s mouth opened and their tongues battled for dominance. Jensen growled, as Jared powerfully pushed back and met Jensen half way. 

Jensen’s blood was boiling with need. Jared pulled his t-shirt over his head and removed Jensen’s after that. They returned to their kiss, tongues exploring every corner of the other man’s oral cavity. Jared broke the kiss to move quickly down Jensen’s chest until he reached the taught nipples. Jensen was already gasping, clenching his fingers in Jared’s hair and releasing them. 

When Jared licked one of his nipples, Jensen’s grip tightened again and he gasped. Jared sucked on it, and Jensen cried out with his head thrown back. Jared liked that, so he spent time sucking on the nub harder, gaining louder rewarding sounds from Jensen. When he bit down gently, the sergeant pushed up his pelvis, deep groans accompanying his movement. 

Jared moved to the other nipple and licked it several times before he sucked. Jensen’s reactions were totally hot. He was crying out, practically shaking from the stimulation, moaning “Oh God, Jared” and “Yes, Jared” over and over. Jared bit down and Jensen’s hips pushed up again, pumping up slowly, begging for friction. Their underwear was wet with precome, the sticky substance soaking through. 

Jared kissed Jensen with heated tongue again, moving his fingers down to Jensen’s nipples and pinching them between his forefinger and thumb. He rolled them back and forth, eliciting incredible aggressive growls from Jensen. Jensen’s hips pumped upward, desperately pushing cock against Jared’s. Jared quickly pushed his underwear down to his thighs, then maneuvered Jensen’s without taking his tongue from Jensen’s mouth. 

The older man helped him, still holding Jared’s head hard against him, but using his second hand to assist below. “Oh god,” Jared cried into Jensen’s open mouth, “It’s so wet,” he started pushing his cock into a tight wet heat, before he even realized it was Jensen’s hand. “Oh god,” he cried out at the sensation, “Ohgod, it feels so fucking good.” 

Jensen grunted and groaned into Jared’s mouth, “s’fucking saturated...you do this to me, Jare...look what you do to me.” Jensen’s grunts were sexier than hell. They both fucked themselves into tightness now, not looking down but knowing Jensen’s hand was down there gripping around both of them at once. They cried out louder into each other’s mouths. Tongues kept battling until Jensen’s deep groans turned into forceful frustrated grunts. 

Jared knew Jensen was close to coming and trying to wait, but Jensen needed this so bad. He suddenly grabbed Jensen’s hair tight and pulled it while he pinched his nipple hard, “COME FOR ME, JENSEN, LET ME SEE YOU COME...NOW.” Jared’s angry forcefulness pushed Jensen right over the edge and he growled, “JAAARREED,” as he kept eyes locked on the younger man for as long as he could. 

Jensen’s hands clenched hard in Jared’s back, his eyes rolled up in his head as he came, “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH,” Jensen shook with the intensity as his orgasm gripped him. He bore down so hard his face turned red and the veins bulged. The second wave was even more powerful than the first. He screamed guttural cries of deep abandon, his release pouring out of him to let everything go. 

He grunted and growled, forcefully dealing with continued spasms of pleasure exploding through his body. He jerked from it, kept on until he was left groaning, grunting and dealing with the aftermath as every nerve ending felt fried to the hilt. He was spent, he was empty of all stress. Goddamn, that had been freeing.

Jensen managed to control his breathing after a few seconds. He opened his eyes to see the love of his life just had a close up view of him being at his most vulnerable. He stared hard, waited, still panting and feeling post-orgasmic pleasure mixed with the unsettling of never having lost himself like that in front of another person. 

This was Jared, though. This was safety, and he had to get used to it, because the way Jared looked, he wanted to see that pretty damn often. Jared cleared his throat, still poised with his rock hard dick next to Jensen’s. His voice was hoarse from the overwhelming sight he had just taken in, “That’s uh...the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I think it’s my new favorite thing to see. If you...can do it for me more, I’d,” Jared jerked and cried out, “Aaah.” 

Jensen squeezed his cock, then grabbed the back of Jared’s head tight, “I think we have some unfinished business. It’s my turn to watch you lose it, baby.” Before Jared had even a second to feel exposed, Jensen’s hand pumped his cock forcing sparks of immeasurable pleasure through him. Jared cried out, “Aaaah,” pushing his dick helplessly into Jensen’s grip. 

Jared cried out again, escalating quick. He gripped the back of the couch hard and pumped his dick faster. Jensen spoke to him, “God look at you...you’re so fucking close, aren’t you...look how gorgeous you are...you’re gonna come for me now and I get to watch it.” Jensen pumped him faster. 

Jared screamed, “OH FUCK...OH FUCK I’M COMING JENSEN...OH GOD.” He clenched up, and screamed, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH,” his face red with the force his orgasm, hard and powerful, taking him over, as he rode each wave with spasming cries of ecstasy. Jensen got to witness it all. 

“Beautiful,” he mumbled, as Jared spasmed and cried out, over and over, his face overtaken by waves of luxurious rapture. Jensen slowly worked him, milking the pulsing cock through every last aftershock. Jared was released from his orgasm to collapse hard against Jensen’s chest. Jensen encircled him in his arms and held him close. He spoke into Jared’s ear, “God, you’re gorgeous...you’re so fucking hot when you come like that for me...I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”

Jensen stroked Jared’s hair until the younger man finally came out of his post-orgasmic stupor. Jared moaned and stirred, feeling Jensen’s light kisses on his eyelids. He slowly raised his head up, struggling for some kind of alertness. “God, that was,” Jared mumbled, as Jensen smiled. The younger man tried again, “That was fucking epic,” he leaned his forehead against Jensen’s chin and struggled for more clarity. 

Jensen still played with his hair and it felt wonderful. Jared decided the rest of him felt pretty wonderful too. He finally raised up his head to give his lighthearted complaint, “You weren’t supposed to do that. It was supposed to be about ‘you’.” Jensen chuckled, trying to see Jared’s eyes but the younger man yawned hugely. He asked him, “Why was it supposed to be about ‘me’?” 

Jared furrowed his brow, “Your day was horrible. I was trying to help you relax.” Jensen smiled softly, “You did help me relax. And I’m sorry if I didn’t quite go with the program but you coming in my arms like that is a little too hard to resist. I’ll be jerking off to that visual for the next decade.” 

Jared snickered from Jensen’s unexpected comment. After they kissed for a few minutes, Jensen brushed the hair back from Jared’s face with both hands and held him gently, “Hey...thank you for listening...you didn’t have to, but you did. I know it isn’t easy when I’m closed off like that. I promise I’m gonna work on that, okay? I know it’s hurtful and I know it has to go...I’m just not used to having this incredibly supportive handsome brilliant sex god waiting for me when I come home.” 

Jared rolled his eyes at the compliments, but kissed Jensen and looked lovingly into his eyes, “I want to be everything for you. Your pin cushion, your sounding board, and the one you can always run to, no matter what. I don’t know how to help you when it’s bad like that and it’s frustrating.” 

Jensen rubbed his thumbs back and forth on his lover’s cheeks. He said softly, “You already are everything and you don’t need to do anything different. You are not allowed to feel any walls between us, ever. That means if you do and I’m causing it, you have permission to zap me with my taser until I listen to you.”

Jared laughed softly, loving this closeness he was finally getting to share. “Okay,” he took Jensen up on that offer. They laid that way for several more minutes, then Jensen suggested they take themselves to the bedroom. They cleaned themselves up and went to bed naked and wound up in each other’s arms. 

The next morning turned to one of the most emotionally draining Jensen had experienced in a long time. He had been introduced as Jared’s good friend, then watched Jared enjoy an hour and a half of his parents’ delight at seeing him, their laughs and jokes with him, their listening with baited breath to his New York experiences. These two deeply loved their son. They were enamored with him, proud of him, even if Jared wasn’t quite aware of all of it. 

They talked about his niece, caught up on Jared’s fathers latest medical issues, then came the blow...the thing that had kept Jared from visiting for too long. This was the moment where the conversation turned and it was Jared’s turn to lay upon them his life...who he was and who he’d chosen to spend the rest of his life with. The room was silent. 

Jensen had been through this twenty years ago and it was heart wrenching to watch his lover go through it. He waited just outside a sliding glass door to give them some respectful room as a family, but he watched Jared’s face through the glass and tried to send him every ounce of support and love he could muster. 

No one spoke for several minutes. Jared stared at the floor. He couldn’t bare to look at his parents for fear of seeing their disapproval and rejection. His mother spoke first. He dared to glance at her when she cleared her throat. “Jared,” she started, glancing at her husband, before back at her son. 

Rose Padalecki meant to smooth the subject and try and placate her disapproving husband before he opened his mouth, but one close look at Jared’s face told her that was not what was most important right now. She had suspected this for a long time. Admittedly, she had hoped it wasn’t true, in the beginning, but as Jared grew older and hadn’t ever talked about any girlfriends, she prepared herself that this might be coming. 

The fact that Jared hadn’t come to see them for awhile was very telling at how hard this was for him...and at the heart of it, this was her child, her sweet precious son, and she loved him more than life. Jared’s mother moved over to him. Jensen watched through the glass, thanking god that the woman loved him enough to at least choose him over any reservations she had. She put her arm around her son’s shoulders and waited until he looked at her again. 

Jared was afraid, but her eyes were soft. They were the same nurturing eyes that had helped him with his Halloween costumes, comforted him when he came home with his first B+ instead of an A, gave him his medicine when he was sick and were in the audience at every school play and chess match. These were one set of eyes he did ‘not’ want to disappoint. 

Rose finally spoke, “What I want to say is...I know we brought you and Jackie up with devout beliefs. I know those ingrained right’s and wrong’s we teach are an imprint on our children and it makes it terribly difficult on them if something happens that wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan.” 

She paused, “Jackie’s death wasn’t part of the plan for any of us. It was a horrible painful lesson that you can lose what you hold most dear at any time. It kinda changes your perspective on life. Makes you see things differently, what’s truly important. Losing you would be another one of those horrible things and I won’t survive it. This isn’t a horrible thing. You’re the same brilliant loving honest hardworking adorable gift of a son we could ever have imagined. I don’t care about anything, except that you’re loved...and you’re happy. If there’s someone taking good care of you and treating you right, then that’s my gift. I get to enjoy you for the rest of my days and I’ll let nothing take that away from me.” 

Jared smiled at her, with tears pooling in his eyes, “He saved my life. Twice.” Then Jared thought for a second and said, “Actually three times, I think.” She smiled, “Then I suppose he’s okay, in my book.” Jared added, “He loves me. He’s kind of protective too and he knows how hard this was. I’m sure he’s probably wanting to break through the glass and come in here and do this for me.” 

Jared’s mother snickered softly at his statement. She glanced over to her husband worriedly, who was still looking to some far off place. She rubbed Jared’s back, knowing he had looked toward his father too. She asked, “Do you want to talk to your dad, privately?” Jared nodded, figuring he might as well give it a shot. 

As his mother left the room, Jared’s father sighed heavily and turned his wheelchair to face him. Jared immediately knew this was not going to go as well as it had with his mother. Rose went outside the kitchen door, but walked around to meet Jensen on the back patio. Jensen glanced worriedly at his lover inside, but decided to step over to her, anyway. 

Rose smiled at him, her first comment, “Thank you for saving his life. He’s pretty important to me.” Jensen met her eyes with seriousness, “We agree on that. He’s pretty important to me, too. Pretty much everything to me, actually.” 

Rose studied him a moment. Jensen was stunningly handsome but also caring and warm, she could see that. She looked down for a moment. When she looked back up, Jensen could tell she was worried...she was searching for anything that might make her ‘not’ approve of this...any reason he might be intending to hurt her son, lead him along, or break his heart.

Jensen loved her already. She was showing protectiveness over her son and he certainly couldn’t ‘not’ appreciate her for that. Rose spoke hesitantly, “Jared says that you love him.” Jensen smiled as he looked down. When he looked back up he decided she needed to reassurance, “Mrs. Padalecki, I’m head over heels in love with your son. He’s everything beautiful about my life. You don’t ‘ever’ have to worry about me hurting him. I want to give him absolutely anything he wants. He calls it spoiling, but I think it’s what he deserves.” 

Rose smiled again, this time wider with loving acceptance. She believed him. Rose nodded, “Okay. I guess that’s what I wanted from you. Thank you for loving him, Jensen. He deserves to be happy. He’s always been an open giving soul and he doesn’t see the bad in things.”

Jensen opened his mouth to respond, but turned instantly when he heard a door slam inside the house. He rushed to the slider with Rose following him. One look at Harold Padalecki told Jensen something was said that put angry guilt in the man’s eyes. His lover was gone. Jensen headed toward the front door, as Rose stepped inside and questioned her husband, “What did you say to him?” Jensen faintly heard the defensive tone, “What am I supposed to say to him?” 

Jensen hurried out to the driveway and looked up and down the rural street. The houses were far apart, so he had to search between them for a minute before he saw Jared’s form. He was walking toward a grass field, which was part of his parent’s property. Jensen jogged that way until he caught up to him. 

“Hey,” Jensen trailed him, reaching for Jared’s jacket sleeve before the younger man pulled away from him. “It’s fine,” Jared waved backward, still walking, “I just need a minute.” Jensen sped up and cut him off, grabbing both Jared’s shoulders to stop him, “Stop. No it’s not fine.” 

Jensen cupped Jared’s face and pulled it up until Jared was forced to look at him. “What happened,” Jensen asked. Jared was raw with anger and pent up hurt behind barely contained tears. He answered without looked directly at Jensen, “He just doesn’t approve. It’s fine.” 

Jensen argued, “Hey. No, it isn’t fine. And stop with that shit, this is me, Jare. Tell me what happened.” Jared’s angry tears spoke volumes about his father’s reception of today’s announcement. Jensen still wanted to hear it from him. 

Jared finally sighed, and answered, “He said I should have stayed home...skipped New York and hung around...maybe this wouldn’t have happened. This wasn’t something he could understand someone choosing for themselves. He asked me if Jackie ever knew and I told him she was my best friend and knew everything. She knew and she never once judged me. He told me I should never tell Katie and her dad but when I told him they already knew, he lost it.” 

Jared’s damn broke, tears flooding his eyes, as he continued, “He doesn’t see how anyone could choose this and now Katie will think it’s an option for her because of me. I told him it wasn’t me that told her, it was her mom, but he was just...” Jared shook his head, too overwhelmed with hurt to even go on. 

Jensen pulled him into his arms, held him as tight as he could and let Jared release the devastating hurt he had just been dealt. He sobbed into Jensen’s shoulder, “He hates me.” Jensen argued softly, “No he doesn’t,” rubbing the back of Jared’s hair, “He doesn’t, baby, he’s just old fashioned and stuck in his ways. This is new for him. It’s a shock. I promise you he still loves you.” 

Jared absorbed Jensen’s strength for a few minutes until he finally sighed in acceptance and pulled back to look at Jensen. He swiped his eyes and offered a half smile, “I really should stop blubbering all over you. It’s happened quite a bit lately.” Jensen rubbed Jared’s wet cheek, as he told him softly, “I’m right here with you, love. You’re not alone and I really believe that your dad’s gonna come around. He loves you. Remember, my dad the same thing.” 

Jared nodded at Jensen’s remark, appreciating this man more than he knew. Jensen continued, “You just continue to be your wonderful beautiful giving brilliant self and try not to worry...and if you do find yourself worrying again, try to picture your mom kicking your dad’s ass right now because I suspect that’s what’s happening.” 

Jared opened his mouth, startled for a second, then tried to process that, “Really?” Jensen smirked, kissing his lover before he responded, “Oh yeah. She doesn’t like anyone hurting her son...that most likely includes your dad too.” Jared looked down, a little shy, as Jensen kissed his cheek and put his arm around him to escort Jared back to the house. They got to the driveway and Jared’s mother was leaning on Jensen’s truck waiting for them. 

Jared hesitated, but Jensen pulled him closer to the truck. Rose touched Jared’s cheek, then pulled him into a hug. She whispered into his ear, “Please don’t leave without talking to him. He loves you.” Jared stiffened and she pulled back keeping her hands on Jared’s arms. Jared glanced at the house and saw his father’s form in his wheelchair just inside the front door. He sighed, then looked at the ground with tension in his jaw. 

Rose touched him on the cheek, “I’ve suspected it for years so I wasn’t shocked. He had no idea so it’s different.” Jared sputtered like he was going to argue, but she cut him off, “I know...he said stupid things...but he just told me how he was ashamed for letting you leave like he did. He’s missed you.” She pleaded with him, “Please Jared. Please give it another try.” 

Jared closed his eyes, shook his head and sighed. Jensen glanced at the front door, seeing Jared’s father just inside of it, then back to his lover. This was Jared’s decision, but if he didn’t want to go back in there, Jensen would put Jared in the truck and high tail it out of there. 

Jared finally pulled away and stomped back into the house, his demeanor clearly expecting more judgement and criticism. When Jared stepped inside, the two men disappeared into the house and Jensen stayed at the truck. Rose headed back inside. 

After a long thirty minutes, Jared came back outside and hugged his mother on the porch, then turned and walked back to the truck. Jensen watched Jared approach from the driver’s seat, then started to get out, but the younger man waved him not to with a shake of his head. He came around and jumped in his side of the truck, then inhaled deeply and slowly let it out. 

Jensen waited a long minute for something to be said, glancing at Jared to gauge his mood. Jared finally said softly, “Thank you. I’m sorry it took so long.” Jensen put his hand on Jared’s and sat there quietly. He waited to see if Jared would say more. 

After a few seconds, Jared added, “You were right. He’s coming around. He apologized...said I was the best uncle on the planet to Katie...and the best son.” He looked down, as Jensen watched him. “You are,” he said softly. Jared looked back up, “He doesn’t understand it, but wants to try...because it’s better than never seeing me.” 

Jensen touched his cheek. Jared nodded and smiled, trying not to tear up again at the fact that Jensen knew how much he needed that from his father. Jensen started the truck and put it into gear. When Jared got his seatbelt buckled, they backed out of the driveway and headed down the street. After they made a left turn, Jared blurted out, “I told him you fish.” 

Jensen glanced at him, answering, “Oh?” Jared added further, “He wants to see your boat.” Jensen stopped in the middle of the rural street and turned to look at Jared, noticing immediately Jared was chewing on his thumbnail and looking the other way with an unmistakable partial grin on the corner of his mouth. 

“Is that so,” Jensen responded, staring at Jared. The accounting expert turned and tried his best to go for a totally feigned serious response, “Yes, he’s into fishing, you know, and...” Jensen interrupted, “Yeah, he taught you how, I remember.” His tone wasn’t of approval, it was more suspicious. 

Jared continued his half assed comment, playing with his hair nervously, “Anyway, he might pay a visit and he wants to see it.” Jared’s eyes glanced between Jensen and the outside, looking through all windows at once, it seemed. Jensen started driving again, actually enjoying the hell out of this. If he had to put up with a father-in-law figure picking apart every fishing habit he had, well then he’d have to endure it. Jared was worth anything. 

They stopped between cities to grab lunch. After they ordered, they sat across from each other in silence. Each man had been lost in thought, their chins resting in their hands, with elbows on the table. Jensen finally spoke, “You know, it took my dad three months to reach out to me. I’m glad yours came through.” 

Jared looked into Jensen’s eyes with loving concern, “I can imagine how horrible that was...and you’re right, I’m lucky. But I would have been a basket case without you there. Thank you.” Jensen took his hand and squeezed it, “I would never let you go through something like that alone.” 

Jared looked suddenly worried, “I’m sorry about the boat thing. I didn’t even ask you, and he just sort of blurted it out. I think he was trying to force himself to act like he’s already accepting us. I won’t let him bother you,” Jensen interrupted, “Hey.” When Jared focused on him worriedly, Jensen smiled, “If I have to survive an interrogation about my intentions toward you and have my fishing supplies critiqued by a senior citizen, well then it’s okay because you are damn worth it, kiddo. I already survived your mom’s eagle eye.” 

Jared’s eyes widened, “Oh god, really?” Jensen giggled, “Your parents are solid, down to earth good people. They love you and they’re concerned. That’s cool, in my book.” Jared visibly relaxed. Jensen added, “Just wait ‘til my brothers get a hold of you.” Jared looked panicked, “Oh no...are they even going to like me?” Jensen hummed a him-haw sound, then said, “Well, they’re a lot like the guys I work with, so they’re loud and overbearing, blatantly inappropriate in their humor, complete assholes sometimes but they’re there when you need them. And yes, they will love you to pieces. My dad will too.” 

They stopped at a sporting goods store and picked up supplies for Jensen’s boat, then walked over to a Starbucks. On their way back to the truck, Jared was recognized by a couple over zealous fans who had read his book. Jensen watched the exchange. His nervous accountant signed their books, but Jensen could see it wasn’t easy for him to receive so much attention. 

‘Oh boy,’ Jensen thought when he heard another excited squee, followed by a few more readers running up to his adorable numbers expert. When he finally got Jared in the truck, Jensen looked over at him and took his hand, “You okay?” He knew damn well Jared had never expected this. The accountant was white as a sheet while he charmed the group outside with sweet smiles. 

Jared argued, “NO I’m NOT. It’s that fucking picture I told her NOT to put on the front cover. And she told me she wants me to write ‘another’ book on advanced investments but I told her I’m NOT posing for anymore PHOTOS!” 

Jensen listened to the tirade, but all he could focus on were the flushed cheeks and dark grey pupils widened in anger. Jared was goddamn hot when he was angry and Jensen felt his dick stir at the sight. He started to smirk, but he looked down quickly when Jared glanced at him, so he wouldn’t see. 

Jensen didn’t dare say anything about how Jared’s publisher knew damn well what she was doing. People who were interested in the content of Jared’s book might be thrilled at the step by step help but there were a whole slew of others out there who were taking an interest in their finances now, just because of the cute young man on the cover. 

Jensen cleared his throat and tried to offer Jared some encouragement, “You know, it’s okay that people thank you. The book is helping them and that’s what you meant for it to do, right?” Jared stared at him, dumbfounded for a few seconds, then seemed to deflate a little. He looked uncertain then and maybe a little guilty over his rant. He said, “I guess so, yeah. I guess it’s nice, but she’s got me scheduled for two book signings coming up and the last thing I want is to have everybody staring.” 

Jensen gently moved Jared’s hair back from his face, then softly added, “I stare at you all the time.” Jared rolled his eyes and sighed, but after fighting it for a few long seconds, he started to grin. Dammit, Jensen did this to him. 

The next day was workout day. Jared was excited to learn he hadn’t fallen apart too badly. He had to go light on any midriff exercises, but his leg and arm weights, and his run felt amazing. Jensen had his own challenges. His body bitched and complained about waiting two weeks to get his ass in here. He struggled, ending up bent over and resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath after his run. ‘Holy fuck,’ he thought as he looked at his adorable accountant, who was still running full speed, six machines over. 

After they scheduled some rock climbing sessions and the racquetball court for later in the week, the lovers went home to Jared’s place. They spent the next five days there, meeting at the gym each night and working on their endurance training. Saturday was their first rock climbing session. They had both done this before, but it had been awhile so they went for a remedial lesson first before going on their own. 

Jensen felt the blood pumping through his legs and arms. He was thriving on adrenaline, already feeling the strength returning from the workouts this week. He looked over at Jared to see the sinew and tendons popping and flexing, as Jared reached for grips and footholds to pull his way up. 

Jensen wondered if any other lookie loo’s were watching his love conquer that wall. Jared turned heads and got second glances pretty much everywhere they went. He was built like fucking sex on a stick and with that sweet innocent charming contrast, people were drawn to him...they couldn’t stop watching him...neither could Jensen, for the most part. 

Once they were cleared to climb by themselves, both men used the walls while spotting each other. They’d decided this was their last run for the night. Jared was looking forward to the hot tub at Jensen’s house. Sunday was going to be a rest day for their bodies, so a long soak tonight would lead into that nicely. 

Jensen let Jared go first. He stood at the bottom feeding the leads while he watched the most gorgeous man in the universe scale the wall. Half way up, Jensen’s eyes travelled from Jared’s muscular arms and back, down past his ass, to his blessed sweaty undercarriage. He just realized he had a perfectly detailed view of Jared’s impressive package through those spandex climbing pants. 

“Jesuschrist,” Jensen mumbled to himself. His eyes fixated on the outline of his most favorite things to suck on, lick and squeeze...each ball sac was perfectly stuck to the material, and between them, Jared’s dick lay just to the side and folded down, the mushroom head resting with...“JENSEN!” 

Jensen looked up at Jared’s yell, immediate concern on his face that he’d missed something and Jared was in trouble. “What’s wrong,” he barked with panic at his lover and stepped forward. Jared was hanging on an outcropping, breathing hard with one foot on a rock and the other hanging loose. His voice was anguished, “I need to come down...please...it’s cramping.” 

Jensen said, “Shit,” as he hurried to lower Jared down. When he landed, Jared sucked his teeth and muttered “owowow” before he dropped down on one knee and his elbows. Jensen tossed the lines aside and quickly grabbed the leg that wasn’t cooperating with both hands. He straddled on his knees and pushed fingers into the bulging knot right under the back of Jared’s knee. 

“Aaah,” Jared cried out, as Jensen pushed in hard and kneaded the knot to release. ‘’Fuck,” Jared’s airy expletive preceded more grunts and “ow’s” until finally he started to relax. Jensen felt the quivering calf muscle give in, just before Jared turned over on his back and flopped down on the mat. His arms flailed to the side, as he lay there breathing in peace. After a few seconds, he turned to Jensen with a grateful, “Thank you.” 

Jensen’s affectionate grin, accompanied with, “Any time,” held some guilt in it over his delayed response. Those muscle cramps hurt like a bitch. Jensen patted the leg, stood up and put a hand out. Jared took it and Jensen pulled him up to stand. Jared tested out the renewed leg muscle, sighing in happiness that it seemed to be free and clear of any pain. 

Jared thanked Jensen again, then added, “You’re awfully good at that.” Jensen smiled with knowing intent, “Any excuse to rub a part of you, is motivation to do be good at it.” Jared looked down as he answered, “Oh, I see.” Jensen added guiltily, “I’m sorry I was slow on the uptake.” Jared looked up in response, “It’s okay, I was just kinda wondering.” He tilted his head and asked, “Where were you, I called your name three times?” 

Jensen sighed guiltily, then he looked embarrassed as he rolled his eyes with a smirk. Jared giggled, asking, “What was that?” Jensen still looked embarrassed, “I was watching your sweet undercarriage and I kinda got...distracted with thoughts of what I’d like to do to it. I need to not do that again, it’s dangerous.” 

Jensen added with admonishment, “Though it would help if you’d wear something thicker under those damn things. I can see everything, you know.” Jared burst out laughing, then looked quickly around. He leaned in closer to whisper, “You bought these for me and everybody wears them.” Jensen argued, “Well, you’re not everybody, hot stuff, and there’s just so much I can take.” 

Jared guffawed, looking around again. He couldn’t believe they were talking about this here. He shook his head, in between switching all the lead lines, then stepped behind Jensen and pushed him toward the wall. “Your turn, Starsky,” he said. 

Jensen prepared to start climbing, then reached for his first hold and paused, as Jared spoke into his ear from behind, “Remember you’ve got the same brand on, so I’m gonna see if I get that kind of view from my angle. Oh, and if you ring that bell at the top, you can fuck me when we get home...hard as you want.” 

Jensen sputtered at the wall, before he bitched in a low growl, “Dammit, now I have to stand here a minute before I can start.” Jared giggled behind him, and even though he loved that sound, Jensen had to focus on willing is sudden dick to soften back down. He climbed faster than he thought he could. He threw himself into the challenge, using every muscle to work the wall until finally he rang the bell loudly at the top. He looked down and saw Jared’s diamond wattage smile. 

Another two weeks went by and the lovers found themselves heavily enraptured with each other. They’d fished, they’d gone running on trails, they’d gone to a concert and two movies. They cooked together twice, but went out most of the time. Jensen’s hot tub had been a popular way to wind down on several occasions. 

Jared’s nightmares had ceased, for the most part. Occasionally, he would wake up suddenly, but it wasn’t anything like the screaming terror he displayed in the hospital. He still felt uncomfortable with people he didn’t know coming up behind him. It didn’t happen with Jensen, but the older man was careful about putting his hands around Jared’s shoulders or touching his neck from behind when Jared didn’t know he was coming. 

Jared was engrossed in loads of work, bringing things home on weekends. Once his new bosses realized what they had, Jared was thrown massive amounts of responsibility. He was thriving. Jensen was so damn happy to see the younger man enjoying his career the way he should. 

Jensen’s job security never waned. There were more thefts and robberies and chop shops keeping his team busy. He came home one evening with abrasions and scraped elbows from a scuffle with a domestic violence suspect. Jensen’s old familiar routine of walking around in a closed off bubble didn’t have a chance. After Jared brought him a beer and silently inspected the light wounds, he grabbed supplies from the medicine cabinet and went to work on cleaning them. 

Jared said nothing. By the time he applied disinfectant salve to all the scrapes and cuts, Jensen had melted to toast. Jared met his eyes and saw the warm acceptance there. With a slow grin, Jensen coaxed Jared to slide into his arms. This solidarity between their souls was building...it was growing stronger and words weren’t even necessary on most days. The love exchanged in their eyes spoke volumes. 

The weekend before the challenge race, Jensen had been sucked into a crap assignment. Morgan was off with bronchitis and Jensen was the only one he trusted with his team. They had a major drug ring pieced apart and this weekend they were going in on a warrant to search and seize the main property. He had planned to go with Jared on Saturday to see his parents again, but this thwarted things. 

This would be their first weekend apart. Jared assured Jensen he would be perfectly capable of taking care of himself. All he wanted was for Jensen to stay focused and come home safe. “It isn’t like me to be this way, you know,” Jensen said. He turned his head to kiss the forehead of the man laying on his arm. Jensen’s hand swirled circles in Jared’s hair, while the sweat cooled from both their bodies. 

Jared looked at him in response, “Me neither.” Then he turned his head back forward, adding, “At least, I didn’t ‘used’ to be.” Jared rolled his whole body over to face Jensen then, still resting his head on the man’s bicep, “I never missed anyone before. I think about you all the time. It’s like I can’t get enough and it’s kind of unnerving to think I’m this codependent.” 

Jensen smiled, still playing with Jared’s hair. He turned to face Jared and slipped his hand around Jared’s waist. Jensen studied the post orgasmic vision for a moment before he spoke, “Well, since we’re both managing very busy jobs and accomplishing great rock climbing feats, I don’t think it’s damaging our own self worth too bad...though I do find myself breaking into tears during my lunch if you don’t answer my texts right away.” 

Jared giggled, as he playfully slapped Jensen’s sweaty chest, “You do not.” Jensen smiled. He turned more serious with loving concern in his eyes, “Will you promise me you’ll be aware of your surroundings at all times? If you go to the gym at night, you’ll have Dave walk out with you?” 

Jared opened his mouth to argue, at first, but quickly exhaled, letting that thought go. Jensen loved him, and Jared certainly had to admit he’d had his share of trouble since they met. He kissed Jensen softly, then assured him, “I promise.” After hesitating, he added, “But you have to promise to be aware of ‘your’ surroundings, too, Ackles...and you come home perfectly uninjured tomorrow night.” 

Jensen moved over Jared’s body to blanket him with his naked heat. He kissed his accountant to within an inch of his life until Jared felt his toes curl. When Jensen pulled back, he added gentle kisses all around the younger man’s face before he smoothed the hair back and looked into Jared’s dreamy love filled hazel grey eyes. 

“I am so lucky,” Jensen said. Jared responded, “I’m luckier.” Jensen smirked and kissed him, arguing, “No, you’re not.” Jared smiled and argued, “Yes, I am.” They both smiled at each other, enjoying the closeness. After several more kisses, Jensen pulled his groaning sluggish lover out of bed and led him to the hot tub outside. 

They submerged in the heat, Jensen grinning from Jared’s cry of “It’s freezing,” to his expressive moans of appreciation. They slept like stones afterward, not stirring until Jensen’s phone alarm chirped relentlessly at seven thirty. He silenced it, then spent another ten minutes snuggling with the warm smooth body next to him. Eventually, it was time to get up. 

Jared tried to sleep after Jensen left. The bed was piled with plush bedding and it all smelled like Jensen. The bedroom fireplace was on, emitting a peaceful feeling. Jared supposed he was being a lovesick idiot, but after forty minutes of warring with himself, he decided to get up and start the day. 

Jared packed his SUV and headed for his parents house, choosing to hit a Starbucks drivethru on the way. The weather was freezing. He was looking forward to today. His father had made the invite. Katie and her dad were coming over and it was going to be a family brunch, followed by some board games and college planning. 

When Jared arrived, he received ecstatic hugs from everyone. His father actually stood freely today, just using the cane for balance. He looked around Jared, like he was searching for something, then turned back to ask, “You didn’t bring him?” Jared smiled softly. His father was indeed trying, and it showed. Jared said, “He’s working on a case today, dad, but he knows you invited him. They’re doing something dangerous and hopefully he’ll call me when it’s over so I know he’s safe.” 

Harold patted his son on the back, then kept his hand on Jared’s back as they entered the kitchen. He looked back up at Jared with concern, “You sure that’s how you wanna live, son?” Jared started to turn defensive, but his dad held a hand up, “That’s not what I meant. What I mean is, with a job like his it’s gonna be like this. It’s gonna be worry all the time.” 

Jared visibly relaxed, but he still had no qualms about defending Jensen’s career choice. He responded, “Well, it wouldn’t matter if he cleaned skyscrapers for a living or worked on an oil rig. Those guys get injured all the time. I’m in love with him, pop...and he’s in love with me. He worries about me too, all the time.” 

Rose piped in from the stove, “Let’s not forget how he saved our boy’s life husband.” She turned to face them for emphasis, “THREE times.” Harold grinned, “Well, he’s got that runnin’ for him, I suppose. Well, let’s have some fun and keep you busy.” 

By late afternoon, Jared was on the road back to Austin. It had been a very good family visit today. Katie was thriving. They had looked at some old pictures again and still marvelled at how much she looked like her mom. Jensen hadn’t called all day. Jared tried not to be a nagging hen so he hadn’t disturbed him but the thought of going into that empty house alone wasn’t uplifting. He headed for the gym. 

Jensen had twenty eight officers to worry about. There were two adjacent properties who had crossed boundaries to build a ten acre fortress of pit bull protected drug housing. It took hours to serve the warrants and search all the properties. There was filth everywhere, crops of marijuana and a huge meth lab in the garage. Christ, it was an all day job. 

When they were done, Jensen went back to his car and realized his cell phone had been dropped somewhere. They tracked it to a puddle of engine oil back in the garage. It was toast. He ordered another phone with his transferred contacts, but had to pick it up at the office. By five, Jensen showed up and double timed it to his office. He retrieved the phone and waited a few minutes for it to activate all his information. 

JD had called him twice, Jared sent a text at three thirty that he was leaving his parents and going to the gym. Jensen figured it took just under two hours to get back from San Antonio, so Jared was probably running on a treadmill about now. He responded to the text that he was close to home and it had been way too many hours apart, so be ready for some quality make up time and remember his promise at the gym. 

Jensen called JD while he took his things out of his county car and walked them to his truck. Morgan was still coughing, but he sounded better. Jensen told him about the day, then bitched that one of JD’s soft footed little toddlers cost him extra casualty paperwork. “You need to get those weaklings in shape, old man. This is my fucking Saturday.” 

Morgan guffawed, then went into a coughing spell. He finally cleared up enough to thank Jensen, “Thank you for babysitting, Ackles. I’ll be sure and whip his ass for hurting himself. At least he’s not on our running team next week.” Jensen agreed, “Yeah, nobody better pop a groin muscle or pull a hamstring this week...and you better be well. We’ve trained hard for this shit.” 

Jensen went home first, but Jared wasn’t there yet. He put his things away, then changed into soft jeans and a long sleeve green pullover. He checked his phone to find no answer yet. Jensen made his decision. It was only three miles to the gym, so what the hell. 

Jared had literally worked himself to the bone tonight. He knew exactly what drove him. Jensen wasn’t here and there was a lack of bubbly enjoyment in between activities. When they worked out together, there were always little jokes and innuendo’s to keep it fun. Tonight he simply ran himself hard and didn’t stop ‘til his sails went flat. 

Dave kept checking his watch. He figured Jared must have done eight miles tonight. From looking around, Dave assessed there were probably only about ten members left in the club. There was one other employee cleaning up the smoothie bar. The gym was open all night, but some of the amenities closed down after eight. 

Jared came from the locker room looking pretty drained. Dave smiled at him when Jared stopped at the desk and asked, “How was your night?” Dave said, “Saturdays are busy, but it’s been nice and now begins the quiet overnight crowd. You look like you ran a marathon, how far did you go?” 

Jared answered with surprise at himself, “I was just motivated, I guess. I looked down and it said 8.2.” Another member stepped up beside Jared and leaned on the counter. He was about a foot away from Jared. Dave turned back and grabbed a protein shake from the cooler and handed it to Jared, “Take this, my friend. You’ve been here a long time and our smoothie bar is closed.” 

Jared took the drink with a very grateful thank you. He shook Dave’s hand, then turned and headed for the front door. He hesitated inside the glass and checked his phone. Something funny happened to his insides when he read the text from Jensen. Jared marvelled at how a few words from one particular person could cause his whole being to flood with warmth. 

Jared almost started outside, but then remembered. He looked back and Dave was busy with the other customer for the moment. Another man walked up with his gym back over his shoulder and a briefcase in his hand. He looked nice. He pushed the door open for Jared to go through and Jared thanked him. 

On the way to his car, Jared noticed the man was walking behind him. Something stirred in his lower gut. It twisted and churned and then it travelled up toward his lungs and heart with a burning vengeance. The panic ensued. Jared double timed his steps toward his SUV and swore the man did the same. His breathing increased. The anxiety skyrocketed so high that when Jared reached his driver’s side door, he instantly turned around and backed against it. 

His hands had automatically lifted to his chest, expecting some kind of attack, but the man walked by Jared and headed to another car. The accountant’s mind tried to wrap around the fact that the man hadn’t been following him and he hadn’t been attacked. Jared tried to force himself to calm down. This was fucking ridiculous. He started to turn and open his door but a man who had just gotten out of a dark colored truck was coming toward him. Jared had half a second of terror until he recognized that walk. 

“Jensen,” Jared cried out in surprise, and ran the few steps to jump into the arms of the greatest part of his life. The thick muscular arms immediately went around him and he felt waves of safety and comfort wash through his entire body. Jensen’s spoke into Jared’s hair, his face crushed into the younger man’s neck, “I love you.” Jared released an exhale of relief, combined with longing for the man who had been gone all day. “I love you too,” Jared said. 

The lovers enjoyed their embrace for a few moments, then Jensen pulled them back enough to smooth Jared’s hair back and looked into his eyes. He asked, “Are you alright?” Jared said, “Fine. Well, I missed you like crazy, but now that you’re here, I’m perfect.” Jensen studied him closer, “Did that guy say something to you? I saw you come out when I parked, but I figured you’d see me standing by my door.” 

Jared’s reluctance showed, his shame at being so afraid and overreactive wasn’t something he was proud of. He glanced down before he admitted, “It’s stupid. I thought for a second he...” Jensen pulled his face up, searching his eyes, “What did he do?” Jared answered, “Nothing.” Jensen smoothed the hair back again, “But he scared you.” 

Jared nodded. After he sobbed once, he continued, “He didn’t do anything wrong. It was me. I thought I wasn’t going to do this anymore, but...someone behind me like that was...” Jensen’s eyes filled with sympathetic understanding, “It’s not your fault.” He pulled Jared closer and kissed him softly, looking into his eyes, “You need to stop being embarrassed or ashamed about this. You’re amazing, and after everything that’s happened, you’re entitled. You didn’t kick him in the balls, right? That’s a plus.” 

Jared held his breath for a second, not quite sure he heard that, but then he was forced to guffaw because Jensen had derailed his thought. Jared looked at Jensen with loving gratitude, “Well I suppose that’s good. Poor guy held the door for me. He’s probably nice and has a family.” Jensen further considered, “Maybe he’s an accountant.” 

They seemed to realize it was colder than hell out and finally got into separate cars. They went to the same sports bar Jensen had taken Jared to after their first racquetball experience and ordered a late dinner. Jared told Jensen about the full day with his family. Jensen told Jared about the whole operation, the success of it, except for the cracked ankle and the dead phone. 

Jared asked, “Is JD okay?” Jensen sighed, “Yeah, he’s better...but it wasn’t as fun working without him today...I admit I did miss his bitching and his colorful way of putting things.” Jared laughed softly, his eyes completely full of peace and happiness tonight. Jensen couldn’t get enough of looking at him. He did point a french fry at his lover and threatened him, “You are ‘not’ going to tell him I said that, right?” 

Jared smiled, “I think he knows how you feel about him.” They finished dinner and talked more of the upcoming event. Both lovers admitted it would be nice to be able to go back to a more moderate workout schedule and stop killing themselves to win this damn thing. They actually couldn’t wait until it was over. 

The following Saturday came. Since the firing of the gunshot, their team of eight had been pulling each other through muddy rope pits, climbing over walls and stepping through tires. They’d drudged through the water and stayed in a pack. Jared had met some of the other teams and for the most part they were nice, but there were two in particular that everyone avoided. They showed up with obvious disinterest in the charitable goodness of this event. It was a down and dirty raw competition for them and Austin seemed to be their main crutch. 

Jared wasn’t too popular. He received disapproving looks from those very same teams, so he stayed close to Jensen and the others. They had battled their way through six miles of drudgery and now there was the open trail run for the last 3.7 miles to the finish line. Their white shirts were so muddy, no one could make out the paper numbers pinned to them anymore. 

Sweat poured down every person. Some of the teams were way behind. Austin was neck in neck with two other teams and one of them was one of the nasty ones. There was a point where the running trail involved climbing down to a riverbank, following along a rocky edgy for awhile, before crossing and heading up the bank on the other side. 

Some of the teammates became separated by some yards, but most them had eyes on each other. Jared came up an embankment. It was a climb of about ten feet and when he started to slide at the top someone put a hand out. Jared took it, so used to his teammates being close and doing this for each other, he didn’t even think. 

It took a second for his mind to realize that when he put his weight in the person’s care, the hand shoved his own outward and let it go. Jared’s balance was zero. He fell back instantly, tumbling back until he hit the riverbank below. Morgan and Jensen found new vigor. When they saw that asshole toss Jared down the embankment, they took off at breakneck speed up the trail after him. Jensen knew his team had Jared. He was hellbent on some retribution. 

With JD and Jensen hot on his heels, the other man tried to scissor his getaway and went through some manzanita to try and throw them off. It didn’t work. The sergeants split up and wound up tackling the man simultaneously as he exited the thick brush. Jensen shoved the other cop’s face hard into the ground, then pulled him up by his hair, “What did you ‘think’, Carver, that we would just let that go? You fucking son of a bitch, this whole event has had enough of your shit. If you’ve hurt him, I swear to god you’ll get a disciplinary week off over this abuse of power.” 

The man smirked mockingly, “My Captain’s on my team, dumb ass, go for it.” Morgan shoved him again into the ground, then they flipped him over onto his back and let him up. Morgan stepped into his personal space, “I highly doubt your Captain wants you guys to be kicked out of this event for cheating...it makes the whole agency look back...but we’ll find out, won’t we. You’re fucked, we’ll make sure of it.” 

The cheating officer pushed Morgan away from him. He turned to work on finding his way back to the trail and catch up to his team. He had obviously delayed Austin, but he had delayed himself, too. Jensen and JD trotted back toward the bank, but Dailey and Banks were just giving Jared a push up from behind, while Fredericks and Campos were offering their hands and pulling him from above. One more officer came up the embankment just as Jared bent over to rest his hands on his knees for a moment. 

Jensen bent over and appeared in his line of sight, looking up and brushing the loose hair aside. He asked, “Are you hurt?” Jared said, “No. I can keep going.” He straightened up and glanced between everyone, “Thank you guys.” Morgan said, “We took care of it, kid. He’ll be disqualified and his agency can go home in shame.” Jared nodded, then seemed to refocus himself and said to everyone, “You can go, I’m coming.” No one moved. Dailey blurted out, “We move when you move, secret weapon. You go, we’ll go.” 

Jared glanced at Jensen, who grinned with a gleam of pride in his eyes that his brethren had attached themselves to his lover. Jared faced the trail and said, “Well alright then, let’s beat their fucking asses.” With a roar of trojan gusto, the eight men took off at an aggressive pace. 

Within minutes, they had overtaken two teams. They had trained hard for this and weren’t just treating it like a casual affair. Austin PD had come in ninth, fourth, fifth and third place but they had never won this race. One mile from the finish line, they poured on the speed. If one participant crossed the finish line first, the other seven had to cross before the second team in order to win. 

The plan was to let Jared pull ahead. He could run like lightning and his team knew the others would never catch him. Their challenge was to bust ass and not let Jared down by coming in just before the other teams. A quarter mile from the finish line, Jensen felt massive anxiety attack his nerves when his lover opened up and flew. 

Jared was ahead of them...alone. They could see him, but it wouldn’t be that hard for the runner on the asshole team to trip him or kick his knee from the side. ‘Come on baby,’ Jensen encouraged silently, willing Jared to leave them in the dust so they couldn’t touch him. 

The said asshole’s team yelled “Go”,“Go” at their sprint runner while running parallel to Jensen’s. The third team had two fast runners, but only one was up to Jared’s speed. It was neck and neck for the three in front. Jared was three feet ahead of the other two in front and Jensen just realized, ‘Holy fuck,’ they might actually win this. 

Some kind of angry invisible force of determination overtook Jensen’s group and they pulled past everyone else. Jensen felt his body complaining and he knew everyone else probably felt the same way. They got closer to the finish line, just as Jensen saw Jared’s hands go up. A crowd waiting at the end cheered and Jared ran through the thick red tape, pulling it with him. The asshole team’s runner slowed to a walk when he saw he didn’t win, the third runner trotted across the line and gave Jared an immediate high five. 

Jensen’s group crossed the line a minute later, too out of breath to truly cheer, but they heard the crowd nonetheless and were smiling in between trying not to puke. The other teams followed behind them and blue ribbons with medals were placed around the Austin team. Jared was lifted by all of them and carried up high while Jensen and JD enjoyed the contagious laughter from the accountant. 

They’d gone home to take showers, after they agreed to meet at a pub to celebrate. The idea was to partake in pitchers of beer and good food before their bodies decided to shut down. They were sitting around a long table, making fun of each other’s whining workouts and pulled groin muscles when Jared and Jensen walked in. The entire table stood up, including JD, and held up their beer’s for a cheer, “HOOOORRAAAAYYY SECRET WEAPON!” 

Jared laughed, but shook his head and looked hopelessly at Jensen, “They’re off the mark, please tell them it wasn’t just me.” Jensen begged to differ, “Hey...all I saw was the cutest numbers genius I’ve ever seen raise his hands and fly through that red tape. I’m not sure they’re off the mark, big guy.” He rubbed Jared’s back and smiled when Jared rolled his eyes and sighed. 

Dinner was fantastic. There was a lot of beer. The giggles and insults just kept going and Jared had a fantastic time. They openly criticized the stupid cheating team that had been barred from returning to any future events. He was actually feeling quite buzzed after Jensen filled his glass about five times over. When he realized what he was doing, he looked at Jensen in nervous wonder, “I didn’t think I was drinking this much. I didn’t even realize it.” 

Jensen leaned closer and smiled, “That’s because you feel safe. You’ve been relaxed all night, and it’s quite addicting to see you like this...among other things about you, anyway.” Jared took a moment to process that. He just realized Jensen’s arm had been around him all this time. He glanced at the water and soda glasses in front of Jensen and realized that this man had been watching him this whole time. 

It was finally time to leave. Everyone stood up groaning, some needed assistance. The entire group of men was barely able to move. Morgan mumbled on the way to the door, “If there’s a call out tonight, I’ll be very late, I’m just sayin.” Jared lingered at the table while Jensen helped him put his jacket on, then donned his own. They followed the group outside and said their goodbye’s. 

Morgan opened his car door and looked over at Jensen, who was guiding a tipsy Jared to his truck. Morgan grinned, “You gonna be alright with him?” Jensen glanced over, “Oh yeah, he’s just not used to this.” Morgan wished them a good night and then hoisted himself into his truck with a loud expletive and followed up groan of pain. 

Jensen opened the passenger door and guided Jared to the seat. Before he got in, Jared turned around and wrapped his arms around Jensen’s shoulders, completely loose and uncoordinated. Jensen smiled, while holding Jared’s waist. He waited for the adorable accountant to say something, but Jared simply yawned. 

“I love you,” Jared finally stated, his speech slurred. Jensen answered, “I love you too.” Jared said, “No, I mean more than sugar.” Jensen giggled, “Okay, you love me more than sugar.” Jared smiled dreamily, “Yeah...I love you more than sugar, and coke, and gummy bears all put together...and ice cream too.” Jensen grinned, “Well, I’m lucky, ‘cuz that’s a lot of good stuff.” 

Jared stood there. Jensen asked, “Do you wanna get in the truck?” Jared said, “Yeah,” but continued to stand there with dreamy fondness in his eyes. Jensen glanced around and noticed that the last of his team had pulled out. He gently pushed Jared back, keeping his arms around him and guided him to sit and scoot backward. Jared was loose and compliant and went with it. 

Jensen buckled his seatbelt and looked closely at him. He kissed the gorgeous man before he touched his cheek and said, “I’ll be right back, okay?” Jared nodded, “m’kay,” as Jensen shut the car door and went around to the driver’s side. He got into the seat and started the truck, turned the heater on first, then buckled his seatbelt. Looking over at Jared, he said, “We’ll be home in a few minutes,” then put the truck in gear as his accountant yawned. 

Jared was exhausted and sore, but he felt home. He had stumbled a bit going up the short stairs to Jensen’s house, then again when he tried to put his pajama pants on, but Jensen was there each time and caught him. After brushing his teeth with about as much coordination as a one year old, Jared dragged himself to bed. Jensen had turned the bedroom fire on and it felt wonderful. 

Jared yawned hugely as he got under the covers. He turned to face Jensen, who was already on his side, watching Jared. Jensen asked, smiling softly, “You feel okay?” Jared answered softly, “Oh yeah. Thank you.” He smiled and blinked heavily. Jensen thought he might be going to sleep but then Jared brought up something, “Jensen, do you think you would like to get married some day? I don’t mean the fluffy stuff, just like matching rings and a bowl of chili, or something.” 

Jensen laughed openly at Jared’s cute explanation. A partially drunk Jared was priceless. Jensen wasn’t sure if this was totally the alcohol, or partially. Either way, he wasn’t going to ‘not’ answer Jared, “Of course I would. I’d marry you a thousand times.” 

Jared hesitated, then finally responded, “Oh...that’s nice.” He closed his eyes for a minute, but mumbled, “I think it’s time for bed.” Jensen giggled, then kissed the younger man on his forehead. He pulled back to lovingly smooth the hair back from his face. Before he let himself drift, Jensen added, “I’ve got you, Jare.” 

 

The End


End file.
